


Wayfinding

by Juli



Series: Spliced [3]
Category: CSI: NY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-15 18:41:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3457712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juli/pseuds/Juli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Originally posted September 2010</p>
<p>Sequel to "Exploration"</p>
<p>Technically, this is not underage, but it's close. In a similar vein, there's no issue of non-consent, but it could be argued that one participant doesn't really know what's going on. That might make it dubious consent? In any case, if you're sensitive to either issue, I would recommend not reading.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wayfinding

**Author's Note:**

> Background: Genetic engineering began as a beneficent tool, allowing scientists to develop better crops and eliminate genetic diseases that had plagued humanity since history began. As the years passed, the scientists' techniques became more refined and so did their creations. Eventually the populace realized that the Engineered Life Forms, known as ELFs, being created by genetic engineers were designed to be slaves, often intended for sex or to be used as soldiers. Humanity found its conscience, with a resulting war that lasted a generation. Birthed humans finally won, driving 'splicers' into the criminal underground. Unfortunately, their work thrived there, as there were always people rich enough to pay for having a slave grown to their specifications. Birthed humans continued to search for splicers and destroy them, but battling an enemy capable of growing its own army was challenging. As for the ELFs themselves, birthed humans never forgot that it was their inattention that allowed them to be enslaved and so most humans feel a deep sense of responsibility towards them.

Danny resented the need to sleep. To his mind, that time could be better utilized learning, but the teachers told him that a certain amount of rest was necessary in order for him to get the maximum benefit from his education. Teachers always knew what was best, so Danny had obeyed, even though he wasn’t particularly happy about it.

With so much else, all of that had changed with Mac.

Sleep was still something Danny needed instead of something he craved, but the falling asleep and waking up part had improved exponentially. Nothing in Danny’s brief existence compared to being held in Mac’s arms. He’d never realized how hard the mattress was in his chamber until he had something to compare it with. Mac’s body was far from smooth, but it was a lot more comfortable surface to rest upon that what Danny’d had before. As for waking up, when Mac woke him with Danny’s new favorite thing in the world, kissing, it was even better than falling asleep while Mac held him.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t kisses that were waking him at the moment, but his body’s discomfort. Danny muttered and shifted in Mac’s arms as a new, but already familiar, sensation started to build.

“Danny, is something wrong?”

Danny lifted his head and blew the hair out of his eyes. “I’ve got an erection again,” he complained, using the proper name for the condition instead of the baby words he’d used to describe it before.

Mac smiled at him and kissed Danny’s forehead. “And is that a problem?” He asked, even as he gently gripped Danny’s penis and started stroking.

“Not a p-problem,” Danny gasped. “Just it happens all the time.”

“I told you,” Mac reminded him. “This is normal for you right now. It’s going to get better, I promise.”

Danny didn’t reply verbally, just burrowed his face into Mac’s neck, biting his lip to keep from making any more noise. Mac’s hand was gentle, if firm. It felt good, but somehow different than before. Danny couldn’t decide, however, if it was a good different or a bad different. Luckily, his body wasn’t so confused. Within a few minutes, Danny’s hips were bucking as he reached orgasm. When it was over, he relaxed against Mac.

“Danny, are you all right?” Mac asked again. 

Danny felt something soft brush against his hair and figured that Mac had kissed him again. He lifted his face; he wanted any more kisses to land where he could better appreciate them. Once he got a good look at Mac’s expression, though, he almost wished he’d kept his face hidden. Mac was frowning at him.

“Danny,” there was a firmness in Mac’s voice that made him sound like a teacher who wasn’t impressed with Danny’s performance.

“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Danny stated. His voice was unusually shrill, even to his own ears. That must have been why Mac pulled him closer. Danny snuggled into the grip, the warmth and strength of Mac’s arms calming him. “Your hand on my penis feels good, feels right. . . but it’s like it’s not enough and it’s too much at the same time.”

Mac sighed and kissed Danny a third time, finally pressing his lips to Danny’s own. “I know it’s hard for you right now. Remember what I explained about the bonding?”

Danny nodded. “Yeah. That I wouldn’t want to kiss nobody but you.” He met Mac’s eyes almost frantically. “And I don’t, Mac, really. The only person I want to kiss or touch me is you.”

His reply got Danny a smile from Mac, but only a small one.

“I know that, Danny,” Mac explained. “But because our bonding is still incomplete, your body is in overload, keeping you in an almost constant state of arousal until it gets what it needs. That’s why you feel like you’re not getting enough stimulation and the reason you feel like it’s too much is that your pleasure centers are becoming oversensitive.”

“Then why haven’t we completed our bonding?” Danny asked, his natural curiosity overcoming his physical discomfort.

“We will,” Mac cupped Danny’s ass and rolled so that the ELF was on top of him. “Just not quite yet. I don’t think you’re ready.”

“Part of me is,” Danny huffed. “Believe me, it’s ready.”

Mac smiled at him again and Danny shivered with pleasure. He loved Mac’s smiles. “It’ll settle down, I promise,” Mac told him. “Trust me?”

Danny nodded his head enthusiastically. “Yeah, I do. I’ll always trust you, Mac.”

“Good.” Mac kissed him again and then lightly slapped Danny on the ass. “Now, come on, we can’t lay around in bed all day.”

“Are we going to see my teachers now?” Danny was up and standing in a heartbeat.

Mac shook his head. “Not quite yet, but there are other lessons for you, so we better get ready.”

The room he was sharing with Mac was smaller than the chamber that Danny had lived in before, but that was okay because he was with Mac. Another thing the new room didn’t have was a shower; it only had a sink. Although Danny enjoyed showering, he didn’t mind the sink either, mostly because washing up meant having Mac’s hands all over him.

Danny let Mac take care of running the water in the sink. He watched as the older man wet a cloth and when Mac gently ran the textured fabric across Danny’s skin, he shivered with pleasure.

“You like that?” Mac asked him.

“Yeah,” Danny sighed. He enjoyed the sensation immensely, but a part of him was particularly appreciating it. “My penis likes it too.”

Mac looked down and appeared thoughtful as he contemplated Danny’s state. “I think I know something that will help for a little while.” He adjusted the tap and ran more water. “ You might not find it entirely comfortable, but you‘ll have to trust me.”

“I trust you, Mac- yowch!”

Danny’s voice broke off as Mac reached for his penis again. He was already used to Mac touching him there, but he absolutely wasn’t expecting Mac’s hand to be so cold. 

“That’s mean,” Danny looked at Mac reproachfully.

Mac kissed him on the forehead. “I told you it wouldn’t be very comfortable, but I think you’ll find it worth it.”

“What do you mean?” Danny asked.

“Your erection,” Mac looked down. “It’s gone, isn’t it?”

The question startled Danny and his immediate reaction was to deny it. As he took a moment to assess his condition, however, he realized that Mac was right. “Yeah, it is.” He looked at Mac in wonder. “How’d that happen?”

As always, Mac had the answer that Danny needed.

“Certain things can inhibit an erection or even make it go down,” Mac explained. “Cold temperature is one, thinking unpleasant thoughts are another.”

Danny frowned. “Oh. That’ll come in handy.”

Mac chuckled. “I would have mentioned it before, but I didn’t know it was bothering you that much.”

“I wouldn’t say it was botherin’ me, exactly,” Danny blushed. He didn’t like Mac thinking he didn’t enjoy everything they did together. He did, especially the kissing part, it was just that he was getting a little sore.

“I told you before, your pleasure centers are beginning to get overloaded,” Mac reminded Danny. “Besides, my teachers used to tell me that too much of anything, even a good thing, can be bad for you,” 

Danny had a hard time believing what Mac had just said. “You had a teacher?”

“I had lots of teachers,” Mac corrected him. ‘But of a different type than you did.”

“But you know everything,” Danny protested. His statement got Mac to laugh, but Danny hadn’t meant it to.

Mac kissed him again. “I know more than you do, but something tells me that you’re a fast learner and my advantage won’t last long. Remember, I’ve been alive longer than you have too.”

Danny’s stomach rumbled and Danny threw up his hands in exasperation. “Great, there goes that again.” He glared in Mac’s general direction. “If it’s not my penis actin’ up, it’s my stomach.”

To Danny’s frustration, Mac laughed. “Well, this one’s easy to fix and it won’t involve any unpleasant coldness.” He moved towards the communication box set on the wall, but seemed to change his mind. “Instead of having food brought in, we’re going to try something different.”

“What’s that?” Danny’s interest was piqued.

Mac wrapped his arm around Danny’s shoulder and led him back to the bed. Once there, he gestured towards the clothing that was laying out. Danny obediently started getting dressed and Mac did the same.

“We’re going to the mess,” Mac announced. “It’s about time you got to see more of my ship than just these four walls.”

Danny tilted his head to the side. “The mess?”

“It’s short for mess hall,” Mac explained. “It’s a place where people gather to eat.”

“Out there?” Danny’s eyes darted to the door.

Mac was at his side in a heartbeat. “Yes, but I’ll be with you. Think you can handle it?”

Danny bit his lip. He’d wanted to go with Mac earlier, but that was because he didn’t want to be separated from the older man. He’d also tried to barrel over Adam to get out and find Mac, but that was because his whole body was shrieking its need of Mac. Now that another opportunity to leave the room was given to him and there was no raging need fueling him, Danny wasn’t so sure it was something he wanted. The teachers had always told him that it would be very, very bad for him to leave his chamber.

“No one on this ship will hurt you, I promise you that,” Mac must have seen Danny’s hesitation, because he was quick to reassure him. “It’ll take some getting used to, but I think you’ll like it.”

“And you’ll be with me, right?” Danny was torn; he wanted to be with Mac and trusted him, but was still a little nervous.

“Every minute,” Mac promised.

He held out his hand and Danny took it. Mac walked them over to the door and pressed the release button. It slid open, revealing the corridor beyond. Mac slowly moved out of the room and Danny followed. A woman was walking by and Danny cringed into Mac, who responded by wrapping his arm around Danny’s shoulder. To Danny’s relief, the woman barely looked at him, although she nodded at Mac. Mac nodded back, but didn’t speak to her. When she was gone, however, he addressed Danny.

“You doing okay?” Mac asked him.

Danny nodded his head. “Yeah.”

Mac walked slowly and Danny was grateful. His memories of leaving his chamber were scrambled. He’d been overwhelmed by leaving its safe confines and there had been chaos all around them. Danny remembered the station shaking and the whole world feeling like it was collapsing. Mostly, though, he remembered Mac. Mac’s hand in his; Mac’s voice talking to him; and, above all the rest, Mac’s scent that had quickly come to supersede everything else.

As they continued to move, Danny realized that everything was different than that first foray. Mac was there, anchoring him like before, but everything else was better. There was no debris to dodge, no shuddering that made the floor beneath him quiver and no underlying sense of panic. 

With each step, Danny gained confidence. He slowly began looking around, his natural curiosity overcoming his shyness. Mac’s arm tightened around Danny’s shoulder and when Danny looked up, Mac was smiling at him.

“Feeling better?” Mac looked proud, like he already knew the answer.

“Yeah,” Danny replied. “I’m fine.”

And with Mac next to him, Danny realized that he was speaking the truth.

*  
*  
*

Mac knew the innards of the Brooklyn like the back of his hand. Even so, he was seeing its corridors as though for the first time, thanks to having Danny with him. It broke his heart a little when Danny pressed so close as they first exited the temporary quarters, but to his relief, Danny quickly acclimated. He still kept close to Mac and had a death grip on Mac’s hand, but soon Danny was looking around and drinking everything in with his eyes. No doubt Mac would be fielding a lot of questions in the near future, but he didn’t really mind. Danny’s reactions to things were unique and could be a lot of fun; Mac found himself looking forward to introducing the young ELF to new experiences.

Thankfully, Mac’s crew members were accustomed to newly freed ELFs and took Danny’s wide-eyed expression in stride. A few seemed a little taken back to seeing their captain hand in hand with a young ELF, but no one made a scene. In fact, one or two seemed downright amused. Mac knew his people respected him, but was also aware that he came across as a little stern. If Danny’s bonding to him made him more approachable, he counted it as a good thing.

Danny was relatively relaxed by the time they reached the mess hall, but once they entered and the noise of dozens of people chatting assaulted their ears, he came to a dead stop. Mac wrapped his arm around the young ELF and guided him to the side so they wouldn’t be blocking the door.

“You okay?” Mac asked quietly. Danny’s eyes darted around the large room and his breath was just slightly accelerated. Mac became more worried when he didn’t answer right away. “Danny?”

“Yeah?” Danny managed to drag his eyes back to Mac. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He shrugged. “That’s a lot of people, Mac.”

Mac looked at the mess hall again. Only a fraction of his crew were using it at the moment, but he had to admit that Danny had a point. To a sheltered ELF, the number of people would be intimidating.

“Yes, it is,” Mac agreed. “But keep in mind that they mean you no harm. And, besides, I’m with you.”

Danny’s smile was tentative, but Mac was heartened to see it. “I know that, Mac.”

Mac gave him a few more moments to compose himself. “Okay, you ready to head in?”

Even though his grip on Mac’s hand tightened, Danny nodded. “Yeah.”

Keeping in mind how new everything was to Danny, Mac led him into the mess hall and straight to the food counter. Once there, they stayed back, Mac giving Danny a chance to look at all the variety.

“What is all this stuff?” Danny eventually asked.

“It’s food,” Mac answered. “It’s all different kinds of things that people eat.”

Danny’s eyes got wide. “No, you’re kiddin’ me.”

“No kidding, I promise,” Mac assured him. “There is a lot more out there to eat than what you’ve experienced before.”

“Why?” Danny asked.

Mac stifled a sigh. The truth was that some ELFs never developed a palate for anything beyond the most basic foodstuffs they were generally fed during their training period. He hoped that Danny wasn’t one of those.

“Each type of food has a distinct taste, texture and scent,” Mac explained. “A lot of people like variety, so they experiment and find they prefer particular items.”

The look Danny gave the counter was wary. “Seems like an awful lot of trouble.”

“You liked the applesauce, remember?” Mac encouraged him. Grinning, he leaned down so that he was whispering in Danny’s ear. “You wouldn’t have learned you liked kissing if you hadn’t tried it.”

The change his words wrought was almost comical. Instead of looking at the food selection like a potential enemy, Danny started gazing at it eagerly. “What should I try first?” 

Mac walked Danny closer to the counter and grabbed a tray. “Your stomach needs to be given time to get used to new things, so we’ll take it slow at first.”

“Look, there’s applesauce,” Danny spotted a familiar item and reached for it. Mac let him, knowing that even that bit of familiarity would help the ELF.

“Let’s try some toast,” Mac added the items to the tray. “And a banana.”

Danny gave the banana a wary look. “You can really eat something that yellow?”

“It’s not that bright of a color on the inside,” Mac assured him.

“Want something from the grill, Captain?” The cook asked him. 

Mac shook his head, hiding his regret. For the time being, he was eating what Danny was eating. “Not today, Saul, thanks.”

Figuring they had enough new things for one meal, Mac guided Danny out to the main dining area. It had thinned out a little, but empty tables were at a premium. While Mac’s eyes roamed over the room, he spotted someone waving at him. It was Flack, seated at a large circular table with Adam and Aiden. Familiar faces would be good for Danny, so Mac led Danny over to join them.

“Hey, Danny,” Adam greeted them. “You look like you feel better than the last time I saw you.”

Mac grimaced. He’d left Danny long enough that the young ELF had gone into some kind of frenzy. He wasn’t proud of his mistake, especially since it was Danny that had borne the brunt of Mac’s miscalculation.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Danny slid into a seat after Mac directed him too. Mac set next to him and Adam was on Danny’s other side, surrounding the young man with people he knew.

“Danny, do you remember Aiden?” Mac asked. Adam’s wife had been there during Danny’s rescue, but it had been a chaotic time and Mac wasn’t sure that the ELF would remember.

Danny nodded. “Yeah. Hey, Aiden.”

“Hey yourself,” she smiled at him. Aiden could be saucy, but she rarely was around ELFs, particularly freshly rescued ones. “This is our husband, Don. Lieutenant Don Flack.”

“Hey,” Danny shook Don’s hand when Flack offered it. The simple gesture was telling to Mac; Danny had been given some instruction in social niceties. “I’m Danny, I’m Mac’s.”

The ELF didn’t elaborate, but then again, he didn’t need to. The others were perfectly aware of the situation and didn’t need any sort of clarification. Even so, Mac felt himself blushing.

“So you’re expanding your food choices,” Adam commented on Danny’s plate. “Good for you.”

Danny took a bite of toast, his face a picture of concentration as he chewed. The toast hadn’t been buttered, so it made a crunching sound. 

“Do you like it?” Mac asked.

Danny shrugged. “It’s loud and I like how it feels in my mouth, but I like applesauce better.”

“Applesauce is good stuff,” Adam agreed with a nod of his head. “I remember when I was first being introduced to food. . . .” 

His voice trailed off as Adam belated realized that Mac hadn’t given the official all clear for talking about ELF vs. birthed human. The look Adam shot Mac was borderline panicked and Mac nodded to reassure him.

“Danny, Adam is an ELF,” Mac explained.

“Like me?” Danny’s face brightened.

“Well, not exactly like you, but yeah, I’m an engineered life form.” Adam grinned at Danny and offered the younger ELF his fist. “’My mother was a test tube, my father was a knife.’”

Danny’s expression was pure confusion. “Huh?”

Adam scratched at the back of his head and laughed nervously. “I guess that wouldn’t make a lot of sense to you. Centuries ago, a writer named Robert Heinlein wrote a novel that featured characters who were ‘artificial’ people, kind of like us. They identified themselves to each other with that phrase. The test tube- . . . .” 

“The test tube represents a woman’s uterus and the knife is a penis,” Danny finished for him. He looked smug at Adam’s surprise. “Mac taught me all about that stuff; he’s a good teacher.”

“I’m sure he is,” Aiden’s smile was sly as she replied. Flack chuckled in appreciation of her comment

“Why don’t you try your banana?” Mac suggested, eager to change the subject. He tried to quell his subordinates with a look, but they knew him too well and it didn’t work. At least, it didn’t work on Aiden and Flack. Adam flushed a deep red and fell silent.

Mac peeled the banana for Danny, with the ELF watching his every move. Danny relaxed when he saw that the fruit itself wasn’t as bright as the peel, but he still eyed it warily when Mac handed it to him.

“What’s wrong?” Mac asked.

“It’s shaped kind of like your penis, but not as big,” Danny stated frankly. He looked at the banana appraisingly. “Not nearly as big.“

Aiden choked on her coffee, Flack cover his face with one hand and Adam lowered his head to the table with an audible thunk. 

Danny looked confused and hurt. “What did I say?”

Despite his embarrassment, Mac responded immediately. “Nothing wrong, just a little blunt.” Danny calmed down. “Did your teachers ever tell you to distinguish anything you say or do depending on who you’re with?”

“Like not using the toilet when the teachers could see?” Danny asked after a moment of thought.

“Exactly like that,” Mac praised him. “There’s no way you could have known this, but people usually don’t talk about sex or their sex organs to anyone except the people they’re intimate with or their doctor.”

“Does intimate mean sex?” Danny asked and Mac kicked himself. Danny wouldn’t have a way of knowing many nuances of language just yet.

“Yes,” he answered. “In this instance, intimacy means physical intimacy or sex.”

“Oh,” Danny smiled. “Good. I won’t wanna kiss anybody but you and I’m glad I don’t have to talk about it either.” 

“Try the banana, Danny,” Flack suggested. “I bet you like it.”

Danny glanced at Mac, who nodded encouragement. After seeing that, Danny took a big bite. His face, as he chewed, was thoughtful.

Aiden got impatient. “Well, do you?”

“Yeah, I do,” Danny’s eyes slid to Mac and he obviously chose his words carefully. “Bananas aren’t as good as other things I’ve tasted, but it’s real good.”

Mac knew exactly what Danny was referring to, but it wasn’t a food item. From Aiden and Flack’s wide grins, they knew it too.

“Good, that’s good, Danny,” Mac managed to encourage Danny, despite his discomfort. “If it sits well on your stomach, we can try some other things at the next meal.’

Don cleared his throat. “Mac, if it’s okay with you, could Adam and Aiden show Danny how to deal with the dirty dishes?”

Knowing that Don was orchestrating a way to speak to him alone, Mac quickly agreed. “Sure, that would be fine.” He smiled at Danny. “I told you that you’d have different teachers now.”

“Okay, Mac,” Danny obediently looked to Adam and Aiden for guidance. “What do we do?”

Aiden stood and Adam quickly followed. “Grab your tray and follow us.

Mac watched them walk away and turned to Flack with a wry smile. “What’s this about? I know you’ve got more on your mind than simply acclimating Danny to a range of people.”

“I just wanted you to know that if you need someone to talk to, I’m available,” Flack was solemn. 

“Thanks, Don, but I’m okay,” Mac appreciated the offer, but didn’t think he needed it.

Flack shook his head. “Being involved with an ELF. . . . it’s like you’re suddenly married to everyone’s favorite little brother, son or nephew. You’re gonna be getting scrutiny and advice from all sorts of people. It was hard to get used to with Adam and he’s not a sniffer or as young as Danny.”

Mac sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. That last bit hit home - hard. “I know. I can already see where I’m going to need to get used to feeling like a dirty old man.”

“You’re not,” Flack refused to let Mac feel sorry for himself. “You saved Danny’s life, Aiden and Adam told me all about it. So did Stella. And Danny looks happy.”

“I’m not sure why,” Mac replied. He looked over to where Adam and Aiden were showing Danny the recycling system. The three were laughing at something. “I have a feeling when he truly understands what he is and that he’s stuck with me, that might change.”

Flack snorted. “You’re selling yourself short, Mac. I haven’t spent much time with the kid, but it’s easy to see that he thinks you hung the moon.”

“For now,” Mac muttered. Flack looked like he wanted to make a reply, but just then Danny and the others came back and he gladly returned his attention to his ELF. “You get it figured it out?”

“Yeah,” Danny shrugged. “That’s easy. Baby stuff.”

“Do you need to go back to our quarters?” Mac asked. He had some things he wanted to get done, but he wasn’t going to repeat the mistake of putting anything ahead of Danny.

Danny looked down at his crotch before he answered. Adam snickered at the sight and then made an oof noise as Aiden elbowed him.

“No, I’m okay,” Danny hesitated, clearly thinking over his words carefully before saying them. “That thing you did earlier is still working.”

“Good,” Mac stood and held out a hand to Danny, who gladly took it. “We’ll see you guys later.”

“Remember what I said,” Flack reminded them as they turned to go. “I meant it.”

“I know you did, Don,” Mac thanked him. “I’ll keep it in mind.”

But as he led Danny out of the room, Mac hoped that he wouldn’t need to take Flack up on his offer.

*  
*  
*

It was difficult to get used to so much space. Danny figured he could grow to like it, but he was still glad that Mac was with him. Holding Mac’s hand, Danny felt comfortable looking around. Everything he saw caused a dozen questions to pop up in his head, but there were too many crowding his brain to be able to put voice to any. 

All of the people they passed nodded to Mac or called him ‘sir.’ Some didn’t acknowledge Danny, but many people smiled at him. Danny had never seen so many different faces. It was almost as confusing as it had been in the mess hall, with trying to figure out what to eat. 

“The Brooklyn is a destroyer class spaceship,” Mac began to explain as they walk. “There are close to 300 crew members onboard. Right now is the middle of the shift; that’s why the corridors are so empty.”

Empty? Given the number of people they’d passed already, Danny wasn’t sure he’d want to see it when it was crowded.

“An’ you’re in charge of them all?” Danny asked.

“I’m the ship’s captain, yes,” Mac confirmed. “That means I’m responsible for everyone onboard.”

“You’re an important guy,” Danny was impressed. He bet that Mac was really good at being a captain too, as good as he was to Danny.

Mac chuckled. “I don’t know if ‘important’ is the right word, but being an officer in the UED forces does give me certain amount of authority.”

“What is the UED all about anyway?” Danny asked, finally able to put voice to one of his questions. “And what’s a destroyer class?”

To Danny’s relief, Mac didn’t take offense at the questions. Sometimes Danny’s previous teachers did, admonishing him that they knew best and that he should concentrate on learning what they gave him instead of finding new things to ask about. In contract, Mac seemed happy to answer Danny’s questions, at least when they didn’t involve his penis. 

Once Mac started his explanation, Danny gave him his full attention, only sparing enough to make sure he didn’t walk into anyone while they continued to move through the corridor. Understanding the basic organization was easy, but Danny still had a hard time comprehending why the people who’d created Danny and the others like him were considered enemies.

“So why is makin’ something like me wrong?” Danny asked.

Mac stopped abruptly and pulled Danny into a nearby doorway. “First of all, you’re not a something, you’re a person,” his voice was firmer than Danny had ever heard from Mac before. “Do you understand that, Danny?”

“Y-yeah,” Danny stammered. “I’m sorry I asked. You can just forget, forget that I asked.”

To Danny’s further embarrassment, he couldn’t hide his discomfort at Mac’s tone from Mac. The older man sighed and pulled him into a tight hug.

“I’m sorry, Danny,” Mac apologized. “I’m not angry at you and you shouldn’t feel like you have to ask for forgiveness just for bringing it up. It’s an important question, especially since you just found out that you’re an engineered life form.”

Danny sagged into Mac’s embrace. “Okay. I didn’t mean to make you mad, though.”

Mac’s arms tightened. “I’m not angry with you, Danny, not at all. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with creating an engineered life form, it’s the reason that splicers do it that make the rest of us so angry. People are people, whether they’re birthed or created in a lab. Both kinds have emotions, intelligence, hopes and dreams. . .but to create someone with the sole purpose of enslaving them. . . . that just goes against every fundamental belief that citizens of the UED have.”

“What about people who aren’t citizens of the UED?” Danny lifted his face from Mac’s chest to ask the question. “Would they have the same belief?”

His question made Mac smile. “Maybe you were meant to be a lawyer; you found that loophole mighty quick.” Danny squirmed at the compliment. “But to answer your question, no. Genetic engineering originally came out of the UED, so the UED has a right to control how it’s used. Besides, freedom is a basic human right and we’re not going to let people be abused just because the abusers declares themselves out of bounds. We’ll hunt them anywhere.”

The conviction in Mac’s voice made Danny shiver. He was very glad that Mac was looking out for him and not hunting him.

“Do you understand?” Mac asked him.

“Yeah,” Danny nodded. “I’m not a thing, I’m a person and I’m not wrong because someone made me, it was wrong of them to want to make me a slave.”

Mac squeezed Danny. “That’s exactly right.” He put his arm around Danny’s shoulders and steered him back into the corridor.

Before Mac could get into the different types of starships, they reached the largest room Danny had seen so far. It was bigger than the mess hall, but thankfully contained fewer people. Almost everyone was focused on the computer monitors in front of them and, as a result, it was much quieter too. Danny didn’t have any qualms at all about following Mac inside. Mac gave him a moment to look his fill and then, with a hand at the small of Danny’s back, he encouraged him into the room and in a particular direction. The people that they passed glanced at Mac and many of the murmured “sir,” but no one interrupted what they were doing.

They stopped at a woman with curly long hair. Danny recognized her from before; he’d met her while still in his chamber and she’d been nice to him. He almost commented that her hair was so curly that it reminded him of the hair circling his penis, but he remembered what Mac had said about not talking about that part of his body to anybody but Mac or a doctor. Instead, he cataloged the observation to mention to Mac later.

“Danny, this is Commander Stella Bonaserra,” Mac introduced him. “She has command of the ship and, while she does, it’s best if you address her by her rank. The same will be true of me when I’m on duty.”

“Okay,” Danny acknowledged, although he knew he’d have a hard time calling Mac anything but Mac. “Hey, Commander Bonaserra.”

She smiled at Danny. “It’s good to see you again, Danny.”

“Do you have a terminal that’s not in use?” Mac asked Stella. “Danny had some questions and I want to get him familiar with the ship too.”

“Right over there,” Stella nodded to a station not too far away from where she was standing.

“Thanks,” Mac smiled at her and Danny tried his best not to resent that. Since Mac was only gonna kiss him, it was okay if he smiled at other people. “Come on, Danny, I have something I want to show you.”

In short order, Danny was seated in front of a computer terminal. Although the set up was slightly different than what he’d had with his teachers, it was enough the same that he had no hesitation about using it. Mac directed him to a particular set of files and soon Danny had a schematic in front of him of the ship’s layout.

“I want you to study these while I talk to Stella,” Mac explained. “It’s important that you know how to navigate your way through the ship, in case there’s an emergency while we’re separated.”

Danny gulped. He didn’t like the way he’d felt when Mac wasn’t around. “Separated?”

Mac put a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Danny, I learned my lesson. We won’t be apart until I’m certain you’re ready.”

“Okay,” Danny turned his attention back to the map. “You gonna be talking to Commander Bonaserra long? This won’t take but a few minutes to memorize.”

“If you finish that, move on to this,” Mac toggled something and a file about starships in general opened. “But I won’t be too long.”

Danny nodded, already turning his attention to the schematic. “Okay.”

It felt good to be learning something again. Danny loved everything that Mac had taught him so far, but the kissing lessons and learning about his penis were radically different from everything else that Danny had been taught before. The schematics were more what he was used to and, even though he’d never seen them before, they were comforting in their familiarity.

While Danny worked on memorizing the layout of the ship, he snuck looks at Mac and Stella. To his relief there were no more smiles and not a hint that the two might kiss. Their conversation seemed to be a serious one. What he saw of it, anyway. Mac caught Danny watching them once and, even though he smiled at Danny, he also nodded at the computer terminal. Danny got the hint and engrossed himself in the map again.

After Danny finished with the ship’s layout, he pulled up the information on the different type of vessels the UED had in service. He was happy enough learning the material that the feeling of discomfort snuck up on him. It was only as Danny started squirming in his seat that he realized that his penis was beginning to ache again.

“Man, you just never quit, do you?” Danny looked down at his crotch as he murmured.

He took a quick look around. Mac was still taking to Stella and Danny didn‘t want to disturb them. Earlier, Mac had told Danny about a couple of techniques that might cause an erection to subside. There wasn’t anything cold in the area, so Danny decided to try to use the other technique, thinking of unpleasant things.

Unfortunately for Danny, he didn’t have a lot of life experiences to draw from. Most of his existence had been spent in a glass box, isolated and protected. That had changed when Mac and the others came. The first time Danny had felt pain was during the rescue when he’d cut his foot. Danny first concentrated on that sensation, but the tactic soon backfired on him. Shortly after hurting his foot, Mac had picked him up and soon after, Danny’s world had narrowed down to the wonderful scent that was Mac. Now he knew that he was bonded to Mac, but the information didn’t lesson the impact of remembering. Instead of subsiding, his burgeoning penis became harder.

Danny frantically tried to think of something else. Most of his experiences had been normal, with learning what his teachers set before him and accomplishing the physical exercises. The only other situation he could think of that was unpleasant had been earlier, when Danny had been left alone with Adam. As Danny remembered the discomfort that being away from Mac too long, his groin started to cool, but then Danny remembered the overwhelming need to be attached physically to Mac that had happened when Mac had returned. Whatever ground he’d made with controlling himself was lost and Danny squirmed in his seat as he blew out a big sigh of disgust. His wayward body seemed determined to humiliate him.

“Danny?”

Mac had managed to approach and squat by Danny’s side, all without Danny noticing. It was an effort, but Danny resisted the urge to throw himself into Mac’s arms. Danny didn’t yet have a complete grasp of what it meant for Mac to be in charge of the ship, but he figured that he at least owed the man the respect that a teacher demanded and he’d never dream of doing that with a teacher.

“Danny,” Mac repeated. “Are you all right?”

“I-I just, am starting to get that feeling again,” Danny admitted. Mac wrapped a hand around the back of his neck and Danny leaned into the embrace. “There isn’t anything cold around and I tried to think of bad things, but it didn’t work.”

Mac’s smile looked sad. “That’s okay, Danny. We’ve got a quick stop to make, then we’ll head back to our quarters, all right?”

“That’d be good, Mac, thanks,” Danny was immensely relieved, but felt a little guilty too. “I’m sorry, Mac.”

The other man stopped in the middle of putting his arm around Danny and used his hand to lift Danny’s chin so that he could look at his face. “You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for, Danny,” Mac told him firmly. “Not a single thing.”

Danny shrugged. “But you were talking to Commander Bonaserra and now you gotta leave to take care of me.”

Mac pulled Danny in for a quick, tight hug and then let him go. He really did wrap his arm around Danny’s shoulders and Danny happily tucked into Mac’s side as Mac steered them off the bridge. Once in the corridor, Danny could see that it was far more crowded and he was glad when Mac’s arm dropped to go around his waist.

“My priority right now is you,” Mac explained. “That’s why Commander Bonaserra is in charge, to give me the freedom to see to your needs.” Before Danny could comment, Mac changed the subject. “I saw you studying those maps like I asked you to; you lead us to the infirmary.”

Even as inexperienced as Danny was at interacting with someone other than a teacher, he knew he was being deliberately distracted. He didn’t mind, though. Getting his mind off of his penis was exactly what he needed and so Danny threw himself into the task he’d been given.

They’d just left the bridge, which gave Danny a point of reference. He closed his eyes briefly, calling up the schematic in his mind. After just a moment, he grabbed Mac’s hand in his and strode confidently off. Given a chance to show Mac how well he learned, even the crowds of people didn’t seem as intimidating to Danny.

In short order – and with no missteps – they were at the infirmary door.

“Good job,” Mac praised him. 

Danny squirmed with pleasure. Unfortunately the motion made the fabric of his pants rub against his groin and, lacking a distraction now that his mind was off his given task, caused the pressure in his penis to become greater. Danny’s next squirm was from discomfort. Mac saw it and wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

“Hang in there, Danny,” he encouraged. “I’ve just got to pick up something from Dr. Driscoll and then we can go.”

“All right,” Danny took a shaky breath. “I’m okay.”

“Captain Taylor?” A young woman approached them. “Dr. Driscoll wanted to speak to you; she asked that you wait for her in her office.”

“Do you know if it will be long?“ Mac frowned as he asked. “Danny is in some distress.“

“She shouldn’t be more than a couple of minutes,“ the woman assured him. She smiled at Danny. 

“I think we’ll wait in an exam room instead,” Mac told her. The nurse’s eyes got wide for a moment, but she didn’t protest.

Mac apparently didn’t need directions, because he wrapped an arm around Danny’s waist and steered them towards a smaller room. Once the door was shut behind them, Danny pressed himself hard against Mac and did his best to burrow into the older man’s body.

“Come here,” Mac murmured. He found a chair and sank into it before pulling Danny onto his lap. 

Danny straddled the other man so that their groins were pressed tightly together. Mac wasn’t as hard as Danny was, but it was enough. After rubbing against Mac for a few moments, Danny’s body stiffened as he reached orgasm. Breathing hard, he hid is face in Mac’s neck.

Mac ran his hands up and down Danny’s back, reaching under the shirt so that they were skin to skin. Danny could feel his touch over each individual bump in his spine.

“Better?” Mac asked, once Danny’s breathing had slowed down.

“Yeah,” Danny moved to sit back, but Mac’s hands encouraged him to stay where he was. “Can we go back to our room now?”

“In a minute,” Mac promised. “I have to talk to Dr. Driscoll.” Danny sighed and Mac laughed softly. “You don’t have to talk to her. Just take a nap, Danny.”

Danny looked around. There was a padded table right next to the chair they were sitting on, but it might as well have been across the room. Mac must have seen where he was looking, because one of Mac’s hands wrapped around the back of Danny’s head and encouraged him to rest more fully on top of Mac.

“You don’t have to move, Danny,” Mac told him. “I like you just where you are. Just close your eyes and rest.”

It wasn’t a hard order to follow. Danny tucked his head under Mac’s chin and soon was half-asleep, the rhythm of Mac’s breathing matching his continued stroking of Danny’s back. The dual sensations soon lulled him almost into a stupor. For the moment, anyway, Danny’s body wasn’t demanding attention, either his belly or his penis, and he took advantage of the relative peace.

In a vague way, Danny was aware of the door opening and someone else entering the room. Mac’s voice was a deep rumble as he spoke and from the fact it was a woman’s voice that responded, Danny guessed that it was Dr. Driscoll. He didn’t really care, as long as Mac kept up the petting. Eventually, though, the voices became more strident and Danny reluctantly pulled his attention to the conversation. It didn’t do much good, however. Danny wasn’t sure what a second opinion was and why Dr. Driscoll would be upset with Mac for wanting one.

By the time Danny had completely roused himself, Dr. Driscoll had left and it was just him and Mac again.

“You awake, Danny?” Mac asked.

Danny was tempted to deny it so he could stay in Mac’s arms longer, but figured Mac wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t already know the answer. “Yeah.” He looked up and saw that Mac was looking at him in concern. “Everything okay?”

Mac smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Everything’s fine. Are you recovered enough stop by the mess hall again on our way back to our quarters?”

Suddenly, Danny felt overwhelmed. He’d experienced many new things since meeting Mac, but even so, this day had brought a whole bunch more and he ached for the comfort of the relative familiarity of the room he’d shared with Mac.

“Would it be all right if we went straight to our quarters?” Danny asked. “I’m not hungry.”

“Well, you have to eat,” Mac stated firmly, but he relented on the mess hall point. “But we can have something delivered.”

Mac had found a clean pair of pants for Danny and helped him clean up. This time Mac didn’t ask Danny to guide them anywhere, he simply wrapped his arm around the smaller man and steered him through the corridors.

By the time they got back to their quarters, whatever energy Danny had regained during his brief rest had seeped away. Mac led him straight to the bed and Danny sank down onto it gratefully. He was aware of Mac loosening his clothing and made a token effort to help. He didn’t really move much, though. Not until Mac laid on the bed next to him. Then Danny slipped over until he was once again nestled against the warm bulk of Mac’s body.

For the first time in his brief life, Danny found that he didn’t resent the need to sleep at all.

*  
*  
*

Mac settled Danny on his lap as he waited for Peyton to arrive. He’d hoped that they could put off the next sexual encounter until they were back at their quarters, but he’d learned the hard way that it was best to accommodate Danny’s need as soon as possible. He’d suggested the delaying tactics earlier, but given his knowledge of the bonding process, Mac’d known they wouldn‘t solve the problem for long. 

“I thought Shonda asked you to wait in my office,” Peyton’s voice announced her arrival. She entered the exam room and stopped, her nostrils flaring as she smelled the musky scent of Danny’s release. “Oh.”

“And that’s why we didn’t wait in your office,” Mac explained.

Peyton blushed. “Thank you.” She pulled a small bottle out of her pocket. “I have that lotion you asked for. This ought to relieve a little of the sensitivity that Danny’s been experiencing.”

“Thanks,” Mac reached out to take the bottle and his hand brushed against Peyton‘s.

“You know what you have to do,” Peyton dropped her hand quickly after Mac took the bottle, as though it was burned. “Danny can’t continue on this way. Bonding sickness is real possibility, the longer you take to fully complete the bond.”

“I realize that,” Mac admitted. He mentally girded himself for what he was about to ask. Peyton was not likely to react well. “I also know that standard operating procedure for an unprepared bonding couple to be observed as they-. . . .” His voice faltered for a moment. “Complete the bonding.”

Peyton’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, that is the standard and for good reason. If both parties aren’t prepared, it can be an unsettling experience for the ELF and, given the state of flux that a sniffer ELF’s body is in during the bonding process, that can have unfortunate medical repercussions.”

“I’m hardly a novice on ELFs,” Mac pointed out. “Even if I haven’t been bonded to one myself, I’ve interacted with enough ELFs in various stages of development that I should be able to navigate a bonding without any undue danger to Danny. I would like to bond with Danny in the privacy of my own quarters. Without medical observation.”

“We can’t take that chance, Mac,” Peyton’s voice went from firm to strident. “You’ll need to proceed with the coital activity in the observation room where we can intervene with any treatment that might become necessary.”

“The Brooklyn is a starship, Peyton,” Mac started to lose patience. “It’s not as big as a city, help would only be a few moments away. I can key a code in the comm system, to notify your team should there be any sort of emergency.”

Peyton was shaking her head before Mac was finished speaking. “Not acceptable, Mac, and you know it.”

Mac was willing to compromise. “Surely there aren’t that many different types medical crises that can happen curing a bonding. Stella has the quarters next to mine. How about keeping a medical team there, with the equipment and supplies that would address the most common problems? That way I’d have my privacy, but Danny wouldn’t be deprived of a quick medical response, should it be necessary.”

Her lips pursed and for a moment Mac thought she would agree, but Peyton disappointed him. “I’m sorry, Mac, but no. I sympathize with your personal sensibilities, but Danny’s needs take precedence in this situation. You’ll complete your bond in the quarters you’ve been using and I’ll be on the observation deck.”

Peyton’s tone didn’t reflect the sympathy she said she had. By the time she gave her ultimatum, the guilt Mac had been feeling over his bonding with Danny ending his relationship with her changed to anger.

“I didn’t want to this, Peyton, but you’re leaving me no choice,” Mac stated. “Stella tells me we’ll be emerging from the gate in a few hours. When we do, I’m sending a message to the base, asking for a second opinion.”

Peyton Driscoll was not the only doctor onboard the Brooklyn, but Mac wouldn’t undermine her authority by asking one of the doctors under her supervision for a second opinion. It would take longer to consult Sid, but in the long run, would be worth it.

“Excuse me?” Peyton’s face was pale and her voice tense. “On what basis? My reasons for denying your request have to do with medical knowledge, something you lack.”

“And I think you’re lacking in objectivity in this case,” Mac countered. “I don’t think I’m being unreasonable.”

“The very fact that you’re putting off finalizing your bond with Danny because you’re body shy shows that you do not have his best interests in mind,” Peyton shot back. 

Danny started showing signs of waking, so Mac decided to cut the conversation short. “I’ll guess we’ll just wait and see what Sid says. I‘ll be submitting an official request and giving it to Stella to have transmitted as soon as we‘re able to after exiting the gate. I suggest that you do the same.”

“If you insist,” Peyton stated. She started to leave, but turned to address Mac again. “I’m assuming I can trust you not to sneak off and complete the bonding until we receive Dr. Hammerback’s ruling.”

“You have my word,” Mac assured her. He was glad that she at least gave him that much credit. “I’ll do my best to keep him from going into some sort of overload, but should something happen, I’ll comm you.”

Peyton nodded, but left without saying another word. Mac sighed. It was hard to believe they’d been a couple such a short time before. Danny murmured and shifted against Mac’s chest. The action made Mac smile and his hold on Danny tightened. He’d never expected to have an ELF in his life, but now that Danny was, Mac couldn’t imagine being without him.

“You awake, Danny?” Mac asked.

Danny blinked up at him and immediately asked if everything was all right. Mac stifled another sigh. Danny wasn’t responsible for what had happened with Peyton and Mac regretted that the young ELF picked up on the tension. He did his best to assure Danny that everything was fine and Danny was trusting enough that he accepted the explanation.

As Mac helped Danny clean up and change pants, he couldn’t help but notice that Danny was almost lethargic. His concern went up a notch when Danny didn’t want to go to the mess hall, but instead wanted to go back to their quarters. Mac didn’t press the issue; Danny wasn’t use to being in an environment as large as the Brooklyn, he probably just need to be somewhere smaller for a while.

Mac helped Danny back to their quarters and took him straight to the bed. After helping Danny with his clothes, Mac gave into temptation and joined him. Danny sought Mac’s body like a heat-seeking missile. Mac wasn’t particularly tired, but he did indulge himself in holding Danny, an activity he enjoyed almost as much as Danny seemed to enjoy kissing.

An hour was all Mac could give himself. He didn’t truly sleep, but was refreshed anyway. He carefully slid away from Danny’s arms and powered up the work station. Writing to Sid in a formal role was tricky; Mac didn’t want to get Peyton in trouble, but he had concerns about their relationship coloring her insistence on his mating with Danny being observed. Mac tried to be objective as he could and after he finished, he leaned back in his chair. He only hoped he managed to get his point across without seeming vindictive.

Danny stirred on the bed, catching Mac’s attention. The ELF looked so innocent, stretched out totally naked. While Mac watched, Danny wrapped his arms around Mac’s pillow and sighed happily. He was the picture of perfect contentment and Mac resolved to do everything in his power to keep it that way.

Figuring that Danny would soon wake, Mac used the comm to have some food brought in from the Mess. Before it arrived, however, he had to take care of the next chore, one that he was in two minds about.

“Captain?” Lindsay’s voice had its usual professional tone as she answered his comm.

“Is the prisoner known as Teacher Roy still being cooperative?” Mac asked. He wanted to keep his promise to Danny to talk to one of his teachers, but neither did he want to expose the vulnerable young man to any sort of disappointment or pain.

“Very much so,” Lindsay was quick to respond. “He’s given us his full name and so far the background check matches everything’s he’s said. I think he truly realizes that UED protection is the only thing that will insure his continued existence.”

“Good,” Mac stated. “Have him set up in one of the more casual interrogation rooms. I’ll be bringing Danny down in a little bit for a chat.”

“I’m assuming you’ll be wanting to talk to the prisoner first,” it wasn’t quite a question, showing just how well Lindsay knew her commanding officer.

Mac nodded, even though Lindsay couldn’t see him. “Absolutely. We‘ll see you in about 30 minutes.”

With perfect timing, the food Mac had requested arrived just as he was finishing his conversation with Lindsay. Mac met the ensign was bringing it at the door, relieving him of the tray. “Thank you, Ensign Provost.”

“You’re welcome, sir.”

After he left, Mac turned towards the bed. “Danny, you awake?”

“Yeah,” Danny yawned widely and stretched. Mac couldn’t help but admire how fine the lithe the young body looked spread out across the bed. “Mac?”

Mac shook himself; he’d stopped to admire the view long enough that Danny had noticed.   
He hurried forward and set the tray on the bed. “We missed eating earlier, thought you might be hungry.”

Danny’s face screwed up. “No, I’m not.”

That was not a good answer, as far as Mac was concerned. Lack of appetite could be a sign that bond sickness was setting in. “Is it because of your penis, do you need relief before you eat?”

After yawning again, Danny looked down at his crotch. Smiling he was clearly pleased at what he found. “No, it’s all good.”

Again, it was not an answer that Mac particularly wanted to hear. Mac was careful, however, to keep his concern hidden from Danny.

“Well, you need to eat,” Mac picked up one the covered mugs and gestured for Danny to take the other. “This is fairly light, so it should go down easy.”

In fact, Mac’s own stomach was rumbling. In deference to Danny’s unsophisticated palate, Mac was limiting his own food to what Danny could eat. His stomach wasn’t finding it adequate, but Mac figured he could stick out for a few more days.

“Aw, Mac,” Danny protested, sounding as young as he looked. “I’m really not hungry.”

Mac raised one eyebrow. “If you don’t eat, you won’t keep up your strength and if you don’t keep up your strength, then you won’t be up to seeing Teacher Roy this afternoon.”

Danny sat up abruptly. “I can see one of my teachers?”

“Yes, the arrangements are all made, but. . . .” Mac tapped the tray. “Only if you keep up your strength.”

It was incentive, or threat, enough to get Danny to pick up the mug. The ELF uncovered it and waved the soup under his nose as steam rose off it. “What is it?”

“It’s chicken broth,” Mac took a drink of his and found it bland, but savory. It was a welcome change from rice and applesauce they’d be subsisting on.

Danny took a cautious sip and Mac watched as the younger man rolled the liquid around in his mouth before swallowing. “That tastes different.” He smacked his lips and took another, deeper, sip. “I don’t know what it is, but I like it.”

Mac smiled; it looked like he had another carnivore convert. “It’s called umami or savory; it’s the taste of meat.”

It didn’t take long for either of them to finish their broth. Given how Danny had reacted to it, Mac was hoping that maybe their food explorations could move ahead more quickly. His stomach rumbled as though in agreement.

“Can we go see Teacher Roy now?” Danny asked, almost the moment his empty mug hit the tray’s surface.

The innocent question caused a feeling to surface in Mac and it took him a moment to identify it as jealousy. How had Danny gotten under his skin that quickly?

“As soon as we get dressed,” Mac assured him. “Are you sure you don’t need to do anything before we leave?”

Danny looked sheepish. “Oh yeah, I guess I do.”

Mac expected the young man to approach him for sexual relief, but instead the ELF headed into the semi-private toilet area. The noises coming from the small cubby made it clear what Danny was doing and Mac turned slightly away to give him the semblance of privacy. As he turned aside, Mac saw the lotion that Peyton had given him and he picked it up.

“Here,” he called out as he handed the lotion to Danny, still without looking at him. “Put this on your penis when you’re through, it’ll make it feel better.”

While Danny was clearly relieved at the lack of sexual drive, Mac was concerned. Once a sniffer ELF impressed on a person, it was important for the full bonding to take place as soon as possible. If it didn’t, bonding sickness could set in. So far, Mac’s bonding with Danny hadn’t been delayed for more than a couple of days, which wasn’t unusual given that neither had been prepared for it. At least, it wasn’t unusual as far as Mac was concerned; Peyton obviously felt differently about that. Danny, however, had endured some added stress, what with being taken from his familiar environment, and that stress was compounded by Mac’s mistake in leaving him too long. Lethargy and lack of sex drive were precursors to bonding sickness; a kind of frenzy that would burn Danny out at a very fast rate unless he got the bond he needed.

As he dressed, Mac thoughts were in turmoil about the situation. Now that Danny was showing the signs of pre-bonding illness, was he putting Danny in danger by not bonding immediately? How long did they have before the frenzied rut set in?

After Danny came out of the toilet area, he dressed quickly. There was no hissing or other complaints as Danny drew his pants on; the lotion Peyton provided must have helped. Mac briefly thought of offering to apply another layer, but quickly decided against it. Danny’s body had been driving him for a couple of days and he should be able to enjoy the lack of sex drive for as long as it lasted.

“I’m ready,” Danny announced, almost vibrating with anticipation.

Mac steered the way back into the corridor and this time Danny seemed more interested in the destination than in the sights and people they saw along the way; in fact, Mac almost expected the infamous ‘are we there yet’ question at any moment. To forestall that from happening, he tried to distract the younger man.

“So Roy was your physical education teacher?” Mac asked. “What sorts of things did you learn from him?”

“At first it was pretty simple, baby stuff,” Danny explained. “How to run and keep my balance; stuff like that. That was kinda boring.”

“I bet,” Mac murmured. He knew already that Danny was a quick study and Mac had a feeling it wasn’t entirely because Danny was still in his grace period. Mac could well imagine that Danny would be quickly bored.

“Once he started telling me stuff about sports, that was better,” Danny continued, gaining momentum as he warmed up to his subject. “I worked on some physical skills, but he was teaching me all about tactics too.”

Mac smiled at Danny’s enthusiasm. “And what’s your favorite sport?”

“Baseball,” was Danny’s almost immediate response. He hadn’t had to think for even a heartbeat about what his choice would be. “I like it ‘cause it’s physical, but it makes you think too.”

Danny’s reasons made sense. Also, although Danny wasn’t short, he wasn’t exactly physically imposing either and baseball would be a good match for his body type. Still, there was one flaw that Mac immediately thought of.

“That’s a team sport,” Mac pointed out. He remembered that Adam was having this same conversation with Danny the first time Mac had laid eyes on the ELF. “You’ve never actually played it.”

“Come on, that’s lame,” Danny protested. He clearly remembered the conversation with Adam too. “I had a batting cage in my chamber and I saw plenty of vids. Enough to know what I like, anyway.”

Mac opened his mouth to answer, but just then a claxon began to sound. It was the warning that the ship was about to emerge from the gate. Danny, startled, looked around wildly. It occurred to Mac that the last time that Danny had heard similar sounds, it had been during the attack on the creche. No wonder he was frightened. Mac wrapped an arm around Danny’s shoulders and guided him to the side of the corridor.

“It’s okay, Danny,” Mac reassured the young man. “All of this is perfectly normal.”

“You’re kidding.” Danny jerked in surprise. “This is normal?”

Danny looked around at the crew members who were hurrying to their stations. To Mac, there was a carefully orchestrated order in the movements, but he could see where it would appear to be chaos to Danny.

“The alarm alerts the crew to the fact that we’re about to leave a gate,” Mac explained. “The rushing around you see is just people who have specific gate functions getting to their positions.”

“What’s a gate?” Danny asked. He leaned into Mac, but his posture was slightly more relaxed.

Mac settled Danny against him as he prepared for the claxon to fall silent. Entering or leaving a gate wasn’t at all traumatic, but might be a little unsettling for the unprepared. “It’s a way to travel quickly through space. I’ll explain later. Right now, I just want you to know that the sensation you’re about to feel is normal. Don’t be afraid.”

Danny was about to ask more, Mac could tell, when the ship emerged from the gate. For a moment, it felt as though the area around them were elongating and then before the sensation could get too uncomfortable, everything snapped back in place.

“Wow,” Danny’s voice was soft.

“That wasn’t too bad, huh?” Mac squeezed Danny’s quickly before letting go. 

“No,’ Danny didn’t sound terribly sure, but Mac didn’t call him on it. Instead, he got Danny started back down the corridor towards the holding cells. It only took a few moments before they arrived. 

Lindsay was waiting for them and came to attention as Mac approached. “Sir. The prisoner known as Teacher Roy is waiting as you requested.”

Danny surged forward, but Mac held back with a quick grab. It was depressingly easy to hold the ELF at bay. “I need to talk to him first, Danny.”

“But, Mac,” Danny whined. “I been waiting so long already.”

“It’ll be just a couple of minutes, Danny,” Mac soothed him. “And while you wait, Lieutenant Monroe is going to give you the basics about gates.”

Lindsay didn’t even blink at the sudden suggestion. “Of course, Sir.” She softened a little as she turned towards Danny. “I think it’ll be easier to understand if I can show you some things on the vid screen.”

Danny gave Mac a reproachful look as Lindsay led him aside to the bank of computer terminals. Mac shook off the twinge of guilt and resolutely entered the interrogation room. As instructed, Lindsay had used one of the more informal set-ups. It still had the basics, namely a table with chairs on either side, but instead of stark metal, the furniture was made of wood. The walls were painted a subtle blue instead of gray and there was even carpet on the floor. 

The teacher didn’t stand when Mac entered, mostly because his wrist was bound to the table with a cuff. His attention was riveted to Mac, however, from the moment the captain entered the room.

“I’m told that you’ve been most cooperative,” Mac didn’t bother with small talk. “And I know from our previous conversation that you understand how precarious your position is.”

“Yes, sir,” the man called Roy answered. “Whatever you need, I’m your man.”

The corner of Mac’s lip lifted in distaste. Those who worked for splicers were scum, but though even those who cooperated with the UED made his life easier, Mac thought they were almost worse than those who chose to die instead. Those who died had a certain kind of courage, misplaced as it was.

“Danny’s outside and I’ll be bringing him in as soon as you and I are done,” Mac explained. “I don’t need to tell you how uneducated he was about the UED, since you were no doubt instructed to keep him that way. He’s a little unsettled.”

“And you need someone he trusts to emphasize that the UED has his best interests in mind,” Roy jumped in. “So that when it comes time for him to bond, he’ll trust that they’ve picked out the right person.”

Mac winced. 

Roy’s eyes widened. “He’s already bonded?” He looked closely at Mac’s face and started to laugh. “And he bonded to you. That’s rich.”

“My recommendation that you be granted a stay of execution can be rescinded,” Mac reminded him. “Wouldn’t even take five minutes.”

The threat worked; Roy stopped laughing and his face went pale. “Understood. Believe me, I won’t do anything to mess that up. I’ll sing the UED’s praises for Danny as long and as loud as you want me to.”

The man in front of him was sweating and shaking; Mac believed that Roy was scared enough to do as he was instructed. He didn’t like it, but talking to the man was something that would be good for Danny. That made it necessity as far as Mac was concerned.

Mac stepped forward and released Roy from the shackles. They slid into the side of the table, disappearing from view. Mac glared at the teacher. “You better not make me regret this.”

“I won’t,” Roy promised.

Turning back to the door, Mac stuck his head outside the interrogation room and looked for Danny. The ELF was standing a short distance away, dutifully listening as Lindsay spoke. For once where a learning opportunity was concerned, Danny had less than 100% focus; Mac wasn’t sure if that was because the ELF was so anxious to see his teacher or if it was the lethargy setting it from the first stage of bonding sickness.

“Danny, we’re ready for you now,” Mac called out softly.

The reaction was instant. Danny’s face lit up and he lost all traces of boredom as he quickly strode to join Mac. “Finally.”

Mac stepped aside and ushered Danny into the room. He thought that Danny would fling himself forward once in the presence of one of his teachers, but Danny stopped sort of walking all the way to the table. Instead, the ELF hung back, almost shy. It was then that Mac realized that it was the first time that Danny was interacting with one of his teachers face to face. In the crèche, there had been a partition separating them, keeping Danny from inhaling the pheromones that would bond him.

“Hey, Danny,” Roy seemed a little hesitant too. Mac supposed it was leftover caution from the care that had been taken not to allow Danny to bond. “I hear good things about you, kiddo.”

It was hard to listen to, the man be so familiar with Danny, not when Mac knew that the teacher had been complacent in training Danny to be a slave. He held himself back, though, for Danny’s sake.

“Hi, Teacher Roy,” Danny finished approaching the table and slid into the chair across from Roy. “It’s weird to see you without the glass in between.”

Roy smiled in a way that Mac guessed was intended to be reassuring. If that were true, then it failed, because the smile was definitely ragged around the edges. It probably didn’t help that Mac had walked forward with Danny and was standing behind the ELF’s chair, his hands on Danny’s shoulders in a show of support.

“Yeah, it is,” Roy agreed with Danny. “It’s good to see you out and about in the world.”

“I’ve been learning all sorts of new stuff,” Danny eagerly told the teacher. He glanced up at Mac. “But I can’t tell you a lot about it because you’re not a doctor.”

Roy turned pale and looked at Mac frantically, clearly worried that Mac would take offense at what Danny was implying. “That’s okay, Danny, I know you’re working hard and I’m not one of your teachers anymore. You don’t have to tell me anything.” He waved his hands. “You really don’t.”

“You knew that I was an Engineered Life Form, didn’t you?” Danny asked. Mac ached for the hint of hurt on the young ELF’s voice.

“Yeah, I did,” Roy admitted. “And I was wrong to help the engineers, Danny.”

Danny reached up and touched one of Mac’s hands where it was still resting on his shoulder. Mac squeezed Danny’s shoulder, hoping it would provide some comfort. “Then why did you do it?”

Roy sighed. “Money, Danny. That’s something you have yet to learn about in a real way, but some people will do a lot of things if they’re paid enough. It’s wrong, though, I know that now.”

“You do?” Danny asked.

“Yeah,” Roy‘s smile was stiff. “I guess I’m not too old to learn. In fact, I’m kind of working for the UED now. They’re good people; they’ll take good care of you.”

“Mac takes good care of me,” Danny stated firmly. 

Mac felt a little funny, that the young ELF was so adamant, when Mac himself was keenly aware of the mistake he’d made, leaving Danny for too long. Maybe Danny had forgotten that incident, but Mac certainly hadn’t.

“I’m sure he does,“ Roy was blushing. “So, with everything that’s been going on, I don’t suppose you’ve had a chance to keep up with your physical training schedule, have you?” 

At first Mac was angry at the teacher’s change of subject to something so inconsequential, but then he realized that it might be what Danny needed. The physical training had been a big part of Danny’s life before everything had turned topsy-turvy for the young ELF, but it was something that Mac had largely ignored. He silently vowed not to do so in the future and listened carefully as Roy gave Danny some suggestions for easing back into a workout schedule.

The conversation continued for several minutes, with a discussion of heart rates and skill sets that made Mac’s head swim. He was no slouch when it came to being fit, but had never approached it so scientifically. He made a mental note to have some self defense training added in Danny‘s future. From what Roy and Danny were discussing, it was clear that boxing had been one of the sports that Danny had received some education on, but there was a world of difference between boxing and truly being able to defend oneself.

Mac let the conversation continue until he felt Danny start to sag underneath his touch. His concern about Danny entering into pre-bonding sickness kicked up a notch; Mac couldn’t think of any other reason that Danny would show signs of tiredness during his long-awaited visit with his teacher.

“I’m sorry, but I think Danny needs to rest,” Mac interrupted when there was a natural break in the conversation.

Danny looked up, a pleading expression in his eyes. “But, Mac, I haven’t seen Teacher Roy in days. . . .”

“Two whole days,” Mac pointed out. He took the complaint seriously, since previously the teachers had been of utmost importance to Danny. “And you’ve been talking for an hour.” In fact, Mac himself was surprised by the amount of time that had gone by.

“That’s okay, Danny, I’m getting parched anyway,” Roy backed Mac up, probably to get brownie points with the captain. “You do as your Mac says, he’s a good guy.”

“Yeah, he is,” Danny smiled as he let Mac help him stand. “Mac’s the best.”

Roy stood too and held his hand out to Danny. Danny looked briefly at Mac, who nodded permission. 

Danny reached his hand out towards Roy and let the other man grasp it, before shaking it. It was a longer handshake than was normal and Roy was the one who broke it off.

“Don’t shake my hand off there, Danny,” Roy smiled to show he was joking, but Danny’s expression was serious as he took in the information. “You take care of yourself and let Mac take care of you.”

“Yes, sir,” Danny said softly. “You take care of yourself too and thanks for teaching me, even if you were doing it for the wrong reasons. I learned a lot from you.”

Mac was glad to see Roy wince at Danny’s well wishes. He hoped it was humbling for the teacher, to have the person he’d wronged actually thank him. “Come on, Danny.”

After they left the room, Mac saw Lindsay go in, so he knew that Roy would be properly restrained. Danny was quiet and didn’t seem to notice her actions. “Are you all right, Danny?”

“Will I ever see him again?” Danny asked. From the tone of his voice, Mac figured that Danny already knew the answer.

“Maybe,” Mac told him. “But probably not. What Roy did was wrong and he knew it was wrong. He’ll need to take responsibility for his actions.” When Danny sighed, Mac drew him close with an arm around his shoulder. 

“What’ll happen to him?” Danny asked even as he leaned into Mac for support.

Mac gave him a quick squeeze. Their walking pace had slowed, so he edged them more towards the corridor’s side so that crew could go around them as necessary. “He’ll go to a facility where his movements are restricted and monitored. As he proves himself, he’ll be given tasks that will allow him to productive.”

“That’s not so bad,” Danny murmured. He sounded half asleep and willingly allowed Mac to both lead him and keep his feet moving.

Given that Danny had spent all of his life but the past two days in one room, Mac supposed that Roy’s future didn’t seem terrible to the ELF. Mac was glad for that; the teacher’s fate had been his own fault and Mac didn’t want Danny feeling at all guilty about it. On the whole, Mac was glad he’d agreed to take Danny to see one of his teachers, but he was also heartily glad that Danny hadn’t thought to ask about the other two. Knowing one was being imprisoned was one thing; finding out that the other two would most likely be executed was quite another.

When they came to a connecting corridor, Mac had to make a decision about where he was taking Danny.

“Danny, you hungry?” He asked, hoping the answer would be yes. 

Danny just shook his head. “No. I’m too tired.”

Mac’s worries over Danny’s lethargy had been growing all through the interview with Roy. After adding in the lack of appetite that Danny was exhibiting, Mac had no choice but to take the turn that would take them to the infirmary. Peyton was just about the last person Mac wanted to see at the moment, but he couldn’t risk Danny’s health.

“Hey, this is the way to the infirmary,” Danny protested. Thanks to Mac insisting that he learn the layout of the ship, the ELF knew where they were headed even if he was half asleep.

“I need to get you checked out,” Mac told him, careful to keep the concern out of his voice. “It’ll only take a few minutes.” Danny sagged against him, making it harder to keep them moving. “What’s the matter?”

“The doctor lady doesn’t like me,” Danny admitted. 

Mac’s gut clenched. As little experience as Danny’d had in interacting with people, it was not good that he’d picked up on the tension between Mac and Peyton.

“Dr. Driscoll likes you just fine,” Mac reassured him. “She’s just worried about you is all and wants to make sure that I take care of you properly.”

That answer got Danny to wake up fully. “Like I told Teacher Roy, you take good care of me, Mac. I‘ll tell her too if I have to.”

Mac stifled a groan. In his attempt to smooth things over between Danny and Peyton, he’d only managed to put Danny on the defensive. “Thanks, Danny, I’m doing my best. Peyton just wants to make sure, is all.”

By the time they reached the infirmary, Danny was sagging again. The assistant took one look at Danny’s sleepy condition and ushered them to the same exam room they’d been in before. “I’ll get Dr. Discroll for you.”

While they were waiting, Mac encouraged Danny to lay on the exam table. Despite its uncomfortable, narrow design, the ELF was asleep within moments. Mac carefully removed Danny’s glasses and put them in a shirt pocket. He was too nervous to sit, so Mac stood next to the bed and gently carded his fingers through Danny’s hair.

“Mac?” Peyton’s voice was quiet when she entered the room. “Shonda told me that Danny didn’t look well.”

“I think he’s entering into the first phase of bonding sickness,” Mac admitted. “I wasn’t sure at first, but when he got so tired when I finally let him talk to one of his teachers, I knew it was pretty much a given.”

“Maybe this is for the best,” Peyton told him. “This way you can bond while he’s mostly somnolent and it won’t cause him any distress.”

Mac looked at her like she’d grown an extra head. “Are you kidding? I can’t have sex with him while he’s unconscious. That would be rape.”

Peyton glared at him, but her voice, when she responded, was quiet in deference to Danny. “It’s no different than bonding with him at any point. He’s an ELF in his grace period; that means that he’s too newly decanted to be informed enough to truly give consent and likely wouldn’t be knowledgeable enough for some time. It’s best to get it done with while he’s physically compliant.” She reached out hesitantly. “I’ll be observing, Mac, and can give you pointers or support as necessary.”

For one of the first times in his life, Mac was speechless with rage. It was only with the strongest of wills that he kept from hitting her. “That should make you happy; that’s what you’ve been angling for ever since he bonded to me.”

“You know that’s not true,” Peyton’s eyes looked hurt.

Mac sighed. “Maybe not, but Peyton, you’ve got to know that I never meant for any of this to happen.”

“I know,” Peyton admitted. “But you don’t regret it, either.”

Looking down at Danny’s sleeping form, Mac knew she was right. He might regret the circumstances that had taken choice away from Danny, but Mac would never regret Danny coming into his life.

“No, I don’t regret it at all,” Mac replied. 

The lines around Peyton’s mouth tightened. “I see.”

The door to the exam room opened and an obviously nervous nurse poked her head in. “Excuse me, Captain, Doctor, but there’s an incoming transmission from Dr. Hammerback and he’s marked it urgent.”

Peyton nodded. “Have it routed to my office, Shonda.”

“I don’t think Danny should be left alone,” Mac commented. Danny was asleep at the moment, but that could change in an instant.

“Shonda will stay and monitor him,” Peyton glanced at the nurse, who nodded. “Come along, let’s not keep Sid waiting.”

Mac had no choice but to follow her. Thankfully the infirmary was a relatively compact space and it wasn’t very far from the exam room that Danny was in. Within moments, they were both seated and Peyton was toggling the controls of the communication screen. Sid’s face became visible and he nodded when he saw them.

“Ah, there you are,” Sid greeted them. “Mac, Peyton, I was dismayed to receive your reports. How is the Danny doing?”

“He appears to be in pre-bonding sickness,” Mac stated before Peyton could reply. He needed to make sure that she didn’t control the conversation.

“Which is why this conversation is a moot point,” Peyton interjected. “Danny needs to bond before he becomes dangerously ill and the onset of bonding sickness means that his condition needs to be closely monitored by medical personal.”

“That, doctor, is a matter of opinion,” Sid dropped the friendliness that he’d started the conversation with. “How far along is Danny? When did he start showing symptoms?”

“A couple of hours,” Mac replied, pleased that Sid wasn’t automatically taking Peyton’s side. 

Sid relaxed. “Well, we have plenty of time then. All right, then, Dr. Driscoll, you want to explain to me why you’re treating a UED captain like he was an inexperienced civilian?”

Peyton’s mouth open and closed a couple of times. “It is standard operating procedure for an unplanned bonding to be observed by medical personnel, so that advice or medical intervention can be provided as needed.”

On the screen, Sid could be seen removing his glasses as Peyton spoke and then cleaning them with the tail of his shirt. Since Sid didn’t need corrective lenses and merely used them as a way to focus, Mac knew the gesture was mostly a distraction. By the time she was finished, Sid had them back in place and was staring at her intently. Mac was glad it was her on the receiving end and not him. Sid was laid back most of the time, but when he reached a certain limit, he was as stern as any officer in the UED.

“There is more than one standard procedure,” Sid countered. “And which one is used is dependent on the circumstances. In the case of an unplanned sniffer bonding, it is possible for the medical supervision to be waived if the other party is an experienced one.”

“Mac Taylor is hardly experienced in bonding with an ELF,” Peyton objected.

One of Sid’s eyebrows raised. “Are you telling me that a highly decorated UED captain with years of history in rescuing ELFs, including performing hundreds of full disclosures to liberated ELFs, is not experienced?”

Peyton crossed her arms in front of her chest. “It’s not the same.”

“No, it’s not, but it is something that you should have taken into account,” Sid admonished her. “Dr. Driscoll, you are hardly objective on this particular case. Why didn’t you hand it off to one of your subordinates?”

“Captain Taylor is the ultimate authority on this ship,” Peyton defended herself. “I didn’t think that any of the doctors with lesser rank would be able to stand up to him if necessary.”

Mac saw red; doctors were outside the normal command protocol and Peyton knew damn well that Mac respected that fact. “I would never pull rank on a physician . . . .”

“Trust me, Captain Taylor, when I say that I believe you,” Sid assured him. Mac was glad they’d had extensive dealings in the past and that Sid knew first hand that Mac would back down per a doctor’s order. “Captain Taylor also suggested a compromise in having medical team nearby, if not directly observing. That is an acceptable alternative, especially if being watched might inhibit a participant during the coital act.”

Peyton looked away, but didn’t answer.

“Dr. Driscoll, while I’m sympathetic to the personal impact this case has caused you, I’m going to have to remove you from Danny’s care team,” Sid’s voice gentled somewhat. “You will remain the chief physician of Brooklyn until the ship reaches port. At that time, we’ll review the possibility of a transfer.”

“A transfer?” Peyton seemed shocked at the idea. So was Mac, but it made sense. If Peyton couldn’t be objective where Mac was concerned, then it would be best for one of them to leave. Mac not only commanded the ship, but he’d done so longer than Peyton had been a crew member. She was the logical choice.

Sid went on as though he hadn’t heard her. “In the meantime, I’ve looked over the staffing records and am putting Dr. Sheldon Hawkes in charge of this case. Sheldon has moved to field work, but he still has the knowledge base necessary and Mac should be familiar enough with him to have a good comfort level with him.”

Mac was mildly surprised. Having Hawkes on the case had never even occurred to him. Upon reflection, he realized that Sid was right. It would be easier to work with medical personnel that he knew well and, other than Peyton, Hawkes was it.

“If you believe that’s best,” Peyton’s response was awkward.

“I do,” Sid replied. “Now, if you would be so good as to bring Sheldon up to speed, I need to have a few words alone with Mac.”

Peyton wouldn’t look at Mac as she left the room and, in deference to her discomfort, Mac didn’t try to speak with her. As soon as the door closed behind her, though, Mac addressed Sid. 

“I’d take it as both a personal and professional favor if you went light on her,” Mac told the other man. “This was the type of situation that isn’t likely to ever happen again.”

At least, Mac fervently hoped not.

Sid leaned back in his chair and, although the audio wasn’t good enough to pick up the sound, Mac could imagine it squeaking in protest. “I tell you what, I’ll leave the discipline of the military personnel up to you if you leave the medical staff to me.”

Mac sighed. “Point taken.”

“But, yes, the unusual circumstances will be taken into consideration. Her transfer is pretty much a given, though. To allow her to continue on the Brooklyn might undermine your authority,” Sid tilted his head to the side. “How are you doing, Mac?”

“Me?” The question surprised Mac.

“I remember how you were when Claire died,” Sid stated and Mac remembered that Sid had been the Brooklyn’s chief physician during that dark time. “And I know that your relationship with Peyton was a huge step forward for you. Having a sniffer bond to you would turn anybody’s world upside down. How are you handling it?”

Mac snorted. “If you ask Peyton, not well.” He sighed and rubbed an eyebrow. “Honestly, I don’t know what to tell you.”

Sid’s voice and expression were sympathetic. “Sheldon can provide you with a stimulant if you need one in order to perform the coital act.”

“Believe me, ‘performing’ with Danny isn’t the problem,” Mac said dryly. “Why do you think Peyton was so angry?”

His reply seemed to stun Sid for a moment and then the other man laughed. “I look forward to meeting your Danny.”

“I look forward to introducing you,” Mac’s smile was gentle as he thought of the ELF, but the comment about the upcoming bonding had him worried. “Peyton thinks I should have sex with him while Danny’s so lethargic.”

Sid winced. “That is one way to approach the problem, but I know you well enough to guess that’s not very appealing to you.”

“Not hardly,” Mac stated. “I know Danny doesn’t have a lot of choice in this, but that feels way too much like rape to me.”

“Everyone agrees that the ideal situation is to complete the mating before bonding sickness sets in, but if that’s not possible, there are a couple of schools of thought on the subject,” Sid told him. “One is just what Peyton told you. The idea is that when an ELF is that lethargic, their body is pliant and there is less chance of physical harm – for either of you.”

Mac felt a sour taste in his mouth. “I’m hoping the other school of thought is more palatable.”

Sid’s smile was tight. “I agree with you. The ‘do it while they’re sleepy’ reasoning cuts down on bodily harm, but it has emotional repercussions. Imagine waking up to find out that you’re bound to someone, not to mention losing your virginity. Not the best way to start a relationship if you ask me.”

“And the alternative?” Mac was beginning to lose patience.

“Allow the full onset of bonding sickness before you attempt penetration,” Sid told him bluntly. 

Mac blinked. Bonding sickness could strike a sniffer ELF, like Danny, who had gone too long between the initial impression and a full mating. It could also strike a bonded ELF who’d been separated from his mate for too long. In either case, ‘full onset’ was a euphemism for full blown sexual rut. An ELF in that condition was desperate for sex, would in fact hurt himself in order to get it. It was a potentially dangerous situation for both the ELF and their partner. The longer it went on, the more desperate the ELF became, until ultimately he burned out. Mac had seen a sniffer ELF suffer after her bonded died. It had not been pretty and he hated the idea of Danny going through anything remotely like it.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Sid chided him before Mac could protest. “Frankly, had I been consulted earlier, this is exactly the circumstances I would have suggested for bonding to Danny.”

“You’re going to have explain that one, Sid,” Mac told him pointedly.

“Danny is newly decanted enough to be in his grace period and he has the physical appearance of a very young, barely legal, adult,” Sid obligingly elucidated. “You’re an honorable man, Mac, and you were thrust into this position unwillingly.” He held up a hand to stave off any protests. “No matter how much your personal views might have changed on the subject since Danny imprinted, it’s not something you would have chosen. It’s imperative for a man like you to know, deep down in your gut, that Danny needs this sex to survive. The rut will show you that like nothing else.”

Mac needed to think on that for a minute and Sid gave him several moments of uninterrupted silence to contemplate.

“So what do I do?” Mac asked. In the end, it hadn’t been a hard decision to make. He absolutely could not see having sex with Danny while Danny was essentially in a coma.

“Keep an eye on him. Your boy is a little precocious, given how quickly he’s going into bonding sickness. Given what you said in your report, that’s probably at least partially due to the trauma of the rescue,” Sid described.

“I did leave him a little too long yesterday,” Mac admitted. “That might have made things worse.”

Sid shook his head. “Most likely not. All signs point to a particularly strong bond between the two of you and the stronger the bond, the more sexually active the bond.” He got back to giving Mac instructions. “Like I said, keep an eye on him. Since Danny’s already gone into pre-bonding sickness earlier than expected, he may transition into full bonding sickness more quickly as well.”

Mac frowned. “What should I look for?

“He’ll become restless in his sleep and then once he wakes, well, you won’t mistake it for anything but a full rut,” Sid shrugged. “From that point, you just need to keep him as calm as you can while you do what comes naturally.”

“You make it sound easy,” Mac scratched the back of his head.

Sid laughed softly. “Sex is the most natural thing in the world, Mac. You’re just over thinking things.”

A chime at the door interrupted him. Mac called out permission to enter and Hawkes poked his head inside. “Mac, I just wanted to let you know I’m getting things set up in Stella’s quarters. We should be ready for just about anything within about 30 minutes.”

“Thanks, Hawkes,” Mac managed to respond without blushing too hard.

“Sure thing,” Hawkes responded. His grin got a little cheeky. “We’ll be good to go when you are.”

Hawkes left and Peyton rather gingerly stepped back in. 

“Did you need me for anything else?” She asked.

Sid looked at Mac. “Did you have any more questions for me?”

“No,” Mac was sure he’d think of some as soon as he walked out, but for the moment, he was fine.

“If that’s the case, then Dr. Driscoll and I need to have a chat,” Sid stated.

Mac knew a dismissal when he heard one. Even if he was technically in charge of the ship, the infirmary and its staff were Sid’s domain. He couldn’t think of anything to say, so simply nodded at the others and left.

Danny was still sleeping when Mac got back to the exam room. Having won the right to bond with Danny without observation, Mac was eager to get the ELF to his quarters. He didn’t want to wake Danny and risk setting off the full bonding sickness, so Mac instead lifted Danny into his arms. The young man murmured softly and, without waking, buried his face in Mac’s neck.

It was mid-shift, so the corridors were relatively empty as Mac strode down the corridors. He supposed he made quite the spectacle, carrying a mostly unconscious ELF, but the few members of his crew that saw took it in stride. Their non-reaction helped ease Mac’s embarrassment. Either that or he was getting used to it.

As he approached his quarters, Mac saw activity at the ones next to his, which were Stella’s. He’d have to figure out a way to make it up to her later. Mac nodded at Hawkes and the people helping him and then entered his own quarters.

Mac made a beeline to his bed and gently lay Danny down. The ELF made a soft protest and Mac stroked his face. “Shhh, Danny. Just sleep.”

For a moment, Mac thought that Danny would wake up completely, but then the ELF turned to his side. His head brushed Mac’s pillow and Danny wrapped his arms around it. “Mac,” the ELF murmured softly as he breathed in deeply. Soon, Danny was even more sound asleep than he had been in the exam room.

As Mac stroked the young man’s hair and contemplated the act that was to come, he couldn’t decide if he was eager for Danny’s sleep to continue. . . . or if he was eager for the ELF to wake.

 

*  
*  
*

Danny woke up to a body on fire. 

There was no gradual awakening. One moment, he was blissfully asleep, surrounded by Mac’s scent and pleasant dreams. The next he knew, Danny’s eyes were wide open and it felt like every nerve ending he had was screaming for attention. Somehow, though, all those nerve endings had all migrated to his groin.

“Mac,” Danny moaned, confident that the older man would know what was the matter with him.

“I’m right here, Danny,” Mac’s voice came from behind him.

Danny turned, realizing as he did that he was in Mac’s arms. His question about what was going on died as he got a look at Mac’s lips. He launched himself forward and kissed Mac, hard. His movement must have startled Mac as much as it had Danny. The older man ended up flat on his back, with Danny perched on top of him. Mac didn’t protest as Danny took what he needed from the kiss. There was a strange taste in Danny’s mouth and he pulled off in order to touch his lips. His fingers came away red; Danny’s kiss had been aggressive enough to draw blood. 

“Mac?” Danny’s voice was querulous, but he didn’t care. “What’s wrong with me?”

As usual, Mac knew exactly what to do. Before saying anything, the older man wrapped his arms around Danny and flipped them. Within a heartbeat, it was Danny on his back with Mac covering him. Instead of feeling trapped, having Mac’s weight pressing him down made Danny feel safe. He calmed a little, but then his hips started moving seemingly of their own accord, thrusting against Mac and causing a sweet friction that made Danny bite his lip.

“Nothing’s wrong with you,” Mac’s voice was a piece of sanity in the sensations that were overwhelming Danny. “This is part of bonding, Danny. Your body’s telling you that it’s time to complete the process.”

“What process?” Danny came close to wailing the question. “What do I do?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll guide you through it,” Mac attempted to soothe Danny with his voice, but it wasn’t working as well as it normally did. Danny couldn’t help but squirm underneath the bigger man, trying to get more of the sensations that his body was demanding. Mac switched to touching Danny, his hands sweeping down Danny’s sides and back up again, leaving trails of warmth that inflamed Danny more.

And then Mac’s hand slid between Danny’s legs and gripped his penis.

“Mac!” Danny cried out as his hips canted up. 

“Shhh. . . . I’m going to take care of you, sweetheart,” Mac crooned. 

As he’d done before, Mac started a slow stroking motion. Unlike those previous episodes, however, it wasn’t doing any good. Instead of bringing Danny to release, it just built up the pressure without relieving it.

“It’s not enough, Mac,” Danny moaned. He opened his legs and did his best to thrust up, in search of more friction or any increase in sensation.

“I know, Danny,” Mac kissed him, “we’re getting to that.”

The kissing and pumping of his penis continued, but only served to increase Danny’s frustration. He did something he never dreamed he’d do; Danny tore his mouth away from Mac’s kisses. “I need something, Mac. I don’t know what, but something or I’m gonna explode here.”

Mac cupped Danny’s face in his hands. “Do you trust me?”

“What?” Danny gasped. “Trust you? Yes.”

“Remember that, Danny,” Mac told him. “This is going to seem strange, but just trust me and I’ll get you through it. I think you‘ll even like it, maybe more than kissing.”

With that, Mac kissed Danny quickly and then rolled off of him. Before Danny could gather his wits enough to protest, Mac had grabbed his arm and was urging Danny forward. Danny went willingly, until Mac started positioning him across his legs.

“Mac?” Danny asked. For a moment, dangling off Mac’s lap was enough to distract him from the way his body burned. 

Mac’s hands started rubbing circles on Danny’s ass. “Trust, Danny. Remember.”

Danny would have responded, but about then he realized that his penis was trapped between Mac’s legs. As Mac’s rubbing turned into a kneading action, the movement caused Danny’s erection to slide against Mac’s skin. His hips started twitching again as he began to undulate in another attempt to increase the sensation.

He was concentrating on his penis enough that when Mac’s finger circled the entrance to his body, Danny was surprised enough to actually yelp. “Mac?”

“Trust me, Danny, this is going to feel really, really good,” Mac assured him. His finger continued to circle Danny’s asshole, massaging it gently, while the other kept rubbing circles on his upturned cheeks.

“O-okay,” Danny stammered. He clutched Mac’s ankle to keep his balance. The dual sensations going on with his penis and his ass caused him to relax a little.

“Good boy,” Mac crooned. His finger left Danny’s hole and to Danny’s surprise, he actually missed the sensation. It was back in a moment, however. This time, however, it was cold and slick.

“Yowch, Mac,” Danny was startled again. “What’s that?”

Mac’s other hand stilled on Danny’s ass. “It’s just a finger, Danny.” The newly-identified finger tickled the opening to Danny’s body and then started to slide in.

Danny attempted to launch himself off of Mac’s lap. Mac’s hand, which had been comforting before, pressed down on the center of Danny’s back, holding him in place.

“Mac, I go to the bathroom with that,” Danny protested. 

Mac’s laugh was low and breathless. “It’s okay, Danny. You have to trust me, remember?”

Danny wanted to, he really did, but Mac was sticking his finger in Danny’s ass and that made it impossible. “Nasty stuff comes out of there, Mac, you can’t put your finger in me.”

The hand on his back continued to press down, holding Danny in place. He squirmed against the hold, not noticing at first that Mac’s finger had gotten further in. “Mac!”

“This is how men mate. Just push out, Danny,” Mac instructed. “It’s going to feel good, I promise.”

Danny’s body did what Mac wanted without any input from Danny. Mac’s finger slid all the way in and Danny stilled, breathing hard.

“See?” Mac crooned. “That’s not so bad.”

Mac was right yet again. It wasn’t bad. The sensation was strange, but not painful. Danny gasped for air as he tried to figure out what was going on.

And then Mac began to move his finger, at first back and forth and then in circles. Wherever the finger went, Danny caught fire. Before he knew what he was doing, Danny’s pelvis was thrusting in time with Mac’s motions.

“Good, good,” Mac encouraged him. “Just like that, Danny.”

The finger disappeared and Danny whimpered. The hand that had been holding him down patted him on the butt. “Hang on, Danny. It’s only getting better.”

Mac’s words were followed by more pressure against his ass. Danny’s butt lifted in the air as something larger penetrated him. “Oh!”

“It’s just two fingers, Danny,” Mac explained. “You’re doing really well.”

The words washed over Danny, almost meaningless. All of his focus was on what Mac was doing to his ass. The two fingers made Danny feel fuller and he definitely liked it. Even as the fingers scissored and stretched, Danny found himself wanting more. 

“That feels really good, Mac,” Danny found sufficient brain cells to say. 

“I know,” Mac sounded like he was smiling. “You’re doing so good, Danny. You’ll be able to take me in just a few more minutes.

Danny frowned. “Take you where?”

Mac laughed, but sounded sad at the same time. Danny pulled himself together to ask about it, but then the fingers left him again. He cried out wordlessly and thrust his ass in the air in attempt to bring them back.

“Easy, Danny, easy,” Mac crooned. “We’re almost there. Three fingers now; it’s going to stretch some more.”

There was more pressure against Danny’s ass and he cried out again, this time in discomfort, as Mac pushed his fingers inside. Mac murmured gently and rubbed Danny’s back, holding his hand still while Danny adjusted. After a few moments, Danny felt his body give a little and Mac must have felt it too, because he began slowly thrusting them in and out.

All of the fire that had been tormenting Danny since waking seemed to coalesce in his ass and groin. He grunted as his body moved in a countermeasure to how Mac was playing with his ass. There was less and less friction against his penis and Danny realized that his erection was weeping a little. The leaking didn’t reduce the pressure in his penis; Danny kept hoping he’d orgasm, but despite feeling like he was ready to explode, he couldn’t reach completion.

“Mac!” Danny cried out. He wasn’t able to articulate anything more.

“Okay, Danny, okay,” Mac reassured him. His fingers left Danny’s ass and Danny groaned as he suddenly felt completely empty.

Danny was pliant as Mac slid him off his lap and onto the bed. Vaguely, Danny realized that Mac’s penis was rock hard as well. It must have been uncomfortable for the older man to have Danny across his lap while in that condition, but Mac had never complained.

“Here, Danny, on your knees,” Mac’s hands helped Danny reach the position he wanted. His touch left Danny and Danny actually whined wordlessly. “Hang on, Danny, just one more minute.”

Not sure what Mac had in mind, Danny stayed still, on his hands and knees as his harsh panting sounded loud in the room. He was aware of Mac doing something behind him, but before he could turn to look, Mac was climbing up onto the bed with him.

“Remember, Danny, trust me,” Mac reminded Danny. “This is what you need.”

Danny felt more aware than ever of how much bigger and bulkier Mac was as the older man gripped his hips. Before he could ask Mac what he was doing, Mac’s hands were spreading Danny’s ass cheeks and something much larger than fingers was brushing against him.

“Mac?”

“Trust me,” Mac sounded like he was talking from between clenched teeth. “This will feel very good.”

The blunt object pressed forward and Danny realized that it was Mac’s penis penetrating him. 

“Ah,” Danny moaned. “It’s too big, Mac.”

“Hang on, Danny.”

Mac kept up a reassuring patter of words as his penis continued to press forward. Danny’s ass burned as it was breached and he started to try and get away. Then, however, his body took over. That burning need that had been plaguing him centered on his ass. The further that Mac pushed in, the further that Danny wanted him. Soon, he was thrusting back, as eager to get Mac fully inside as he’d been nervous at the start.

“S’good, Mac,” Danny moaned. “So good.”

Mac stopped moving forward and Danny felt the older man’s testicles pressed against the bottom of his butt. He grunted as he felt Mac’s body drape over him, but he managed to take the weight.

“I knew it would be,” Mac ran his hands down Danny’s shaking thighs. “We’ll just wait until you’re ready and then it’s going to get better.”

Danny tried to move, but Mac’s weight made it difficult. “I’m ready now, Mac.”

“Okay, okay,” Mac bit sharply at the back of Danny’s neck and Danny gasped. The slight pain just added to the overall sensation. 

Mac shifted his weight, causing his penis to move inside of Danny. Danny moaned and spread his legs even as he lifted his ass. He wanted more. His body was demanding more and he would do just about anything to get it.

“Good, good,” Mac encouraged him. “Hang on.”

Before Danny could ask what Mac meant, the older man took a firm grip on Danny’s hips and started to thrust. At first Danny thought Mac was going to pull out and he did his best to tighten his asshole to keep Mac inside of him. At the last minute, though, Mac shifted direction, driving his penis deep within Danny. The sound of his testicles slapping against Danny’s ass almost drowned out Danny’s moans.

There were no more words as Mac thrust over and over again inside of Danny. That was okay; Danny was beyond the need for reassurance. He thrust back as best he could, although Mac’s hold kept it hard for him to move. Danny instinctively knew this was the act that his body had been craving and, as far as Danny was concerned, it could go on forever.

Danny’s body, however, had a different agenda. The intense pleasure slowly gave away to the sensation of building pressure. 

“Mac,” Danny gasped. “I need. . . . more.”

“Anything you need,” Mac assured him, sounding a little out of breath.

One of Mac’s hands left Danny’s hip and for a moment he thought it had slipped from all the sweat they were generating. Instead, however, Mac put his hand on the back of Danny’s neck, encouraging his head down. The slight change in position caused Danny’s hips to raise a little further in the air and, even more importantly, allowed his engorged penis to rub against the top of his sweat-slickened thighs.

Mac continued to thrust inside of Danny, but managed to do it harder and faster. Danny thrust his ass up, while trying to rub his penis against anything he could. The pressure upped a couple of notches and before Danny knew it, his entire existence contracted into one pure bolt of pleasure. He was vaguely aware of Mac crying out and a splash of warmth deep inside him. That warmth seemed to grow, spreading throughout Danny’s body, even as he felt his own penis spurting onto the bed below.

As Danny lost consciousness, he was aware that he’d been right all along - Mac took real good care of him.

*  
*  
*

For all his claims to Peyton and Sid, Mac was not as prepared as he thought for Danny going into full bonding sickness. He’d had enough time to ready himself for it. Danny had slept long enough for Mac to have food brought in from the mess. The delivery didn’t even make Danny twitch. Mac got something substantial for himself, knowing he’d need the energy. He savored the taste of the hamburger even as Danny slept. His stomach had not been satisfied the rations he’d been sharing with Danny. Mac roused Danny enough to get some broth down him, but even that was difficult, the ELF was sleeping so soundly.

Mac tried to fill the time by doing administrative work using the terminal in his quarters, but his focus was shot. Every time Danny shifted position or even breathed unusually deeply, Mac was up and checking on him. Eventually, Mac gave it up as a lost cause. He powered down his terminal and slipped into the bed behind the sleeping ELF.

Although he tried to stay awake, Mac realized that he’d drifted off when he abruptly woke. It hadn’t taken much, just a breathy noise. Mac was still wrapped around Danny, but the ELF was no longer sleeping quietly. Instead, Danny was twitching restlessly and making a low sound that wasn’t quite a moan.

Danny was waking up.

Mac didn’t lose any time. He knew that Danny would be desperate when he woke and Mac figured it would be easier if they were both nude. He stripped down quickly and then did the same for Danny. He was gentle as he slipped Danny’s clothing off, but he knew it was only a matter of minutes before Danny woke entirely. The ELF’s cock was already awake - it was hard, evidence that Danny’s body was quickly driving him into rut.

Once the clothing was gone, Mac returned to the bed and wrapped himself around Danny again. He kissed the younger man’s shoulder blade and noticed that the skin felt hot. Mac hoped that Danny would wake soon. The sooner they got started, the sooner that he could help Danny feel better.

He didn’t have long to wait.

One moment, Danny was stirring, but still asleep, the next he’d tensed in Mac’s arms and was calling out Mac’s name in a voice laden with need. Mac answered immediately and Danny turned in his arms. When they were face to face, Mac realized that the rut was in full force. Danny was no longer hesitant where sex was involved. In fact, there was little to be seen of sweet ELF Mac had come to care for in the last couple of days. Danny launched himself at Mac and Mac soon found himself underneath the weight of a squirming, desperate ELF. Danny’s kiss was anything but gentle. In fact, Danny’s teeth scraped against Mac’s lip, drawing blood. The taste seemed to break through the overwhelming urge that Danny had awoken with - but with a result that hit Mac right to the core.

“Mac?” Danny’s voice was querulous, the sound sending Mac‘s protective instincts into overdrive. “What’s wrong with me?”

Even as Mac acted to reassure the ELF, he realized that Sid had been right. Danny’s obvious need completely pushed any feelings of guilt or discomfort out of Mac’s mind. Comforting Danny, even as he prepared him for sex, was the most natural thing in the world for Mac. He didn’t even flinch away from holding Danny as his lap as the ELF protested having the first finger in his ass. Thankfully, Mac had been right and Danny had settled as soon as he realized the sensation felt good; the whole reason that Mac had not told him what was going to happen. Danny was a little on the fastidious side and Mac hadn’t wanted to prejudice him against the male/male sex act by describing to him how it was accomplished.

When Mac finally entered Danny, he struggled with a wash of feelings. As the tightness of Danny’s virgin body constricted around his cock, Mac felt intense pleasure, but also became aware of an incredibly possessive urge. A small, dark corner of himself liked the fact that Mac was the first - and only - man that would ever experience making love to Danny. Mac knew he’d have to deal with that later, but the pleasure overcame him, driving him to thrust with a power and speed that would give both he and Danny what they needed.

In orgasm, Danny’s ass clamped down on Mac with a pressure that was almost painful. It caused him to come almost immediately and proceeded to milk him for the most intense orgasm that Mac had ever experienced. The rest of Danny was limp as he lost consciousness and Mac was hard-pressed not to follow. He kept a firm grip on Danny’s hips as he came and, with darkness nibbling away at the corner of his vision, Mac barely managed to tilt them both to their sides so that he ended up behind Danny and not on top of him. No matter how much the young ELF liked Mac spread out over him like a blanket, it wouldn’t be comfortable for long and Danny was likely to be out for a while.

Mac had the presence of mind to hitch one leg over Danny’s, keeping them pressed close together. His cock was still in Danny and Mac knew that during a bonding, Danny’s body would be slow to eject him. Mac hoped that Danny wouldn’t be sore when he finally woke up, but Mac himself was too tired to do anything about it.

He couldn’t have slept long; it was the act of his cock sliding out of Danny’s ass that woke him. Danny murmured softly, but didn’t open his eyes. Mac kissed his shoulder and reached for the communication button built into the headboard of his bed. “Taylor to Hawkes.”

Sheldon’s voice answered immediately. “Right here, Mac.”

Even as he opened his mouth to speak, Mac blushed. He had to inform Hawkes of the change in Danny’s medical condition, but it was awkward, to say the least. “Danny entered into the full bonding sickness and, well, we should be bonded now.”

“Good,” Hawkes’ voice was reassuringly matter of fact. “I took the liberty of placing a portable sensor pad underneath your mattress. With your permission, I’ll turn it on remotely and check Danny’s condition.”

Mac was both relieved and embarrassed. At least they hadn’t been monitored during sex, but he found it odd that Sheldon had enough time to prepare that thoroughly. “Something tells me that you weren’t surprised to be put in charge of Danny’s case.”

“Stella gave me a heads-up that you were contacting Sid,” Hawkes admitted. “I was ready to roll when I go the call.”

“It’s okay,” Mac assured him. “I’m glad you were prepared. Go ahead and turn it on.”

Even knowing the sensor pad was there, Mac couldn’t detect anything. Danny was visibly well, but even so, Mac was tense until Sheldon had a chance to assess Danny’s condition.

“Congratulations, Mac, you have a successful bond,” Hawkes told him a few moments later. “His vital signs are stable and his hormone levels are dropping.”

Mac closed his eyes briefly in thanks. He don’t know what he would have done if his reluctance had damaged Danny in some way. “Thank you, Sheldon.”

“Hey, you did all of the work,” Hawkes replied. Then, as if realizing his response had been a little inappropriate, he rushed to give instructions. “Danny’s body will be undergoing some chemical changes as the bond settles; he’s going to sleep for a while. I suggest you not change the sheets, the scent can only help facilitate the bond. When he wakes, he may not be sexually satiated. If you need a stimulant, let me know.”

After looking at the swell of Danny’s ass, Mac chuckled softly. “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.”

“Okay, let me know if you need anything,“ Sheldon . “Hawkes out.”

Mac settled in behind Danny again, although he was no longer sleepy. Tired, yes, but his mind was too busy for rest to be possible. So far, he hadn’t looked beyond the bonding, but now that it was complete, he needed to consider the future. 

It was not unheard of for starship captains to be married. The UED didn’t even prohibit crew from having relationships with each other, as long as it didn’t interfere with the job. That meant there was a good probability that Danny could stay on the Brooklyn with Mac. The challenge would be to find a meaningful job for Danny. The UED was lenient where sniffer ELFs were concerned, but neither did they like passengers on their ships. Danny would need some training so he could be productive.

Luckily for Mac’s peace of mind, Danny was still in his grace period and it would be easy to educate him quickly. Mac began stroking Danny’s hip as he pondered the options. With Danny’s already solid background in chemistry and biology, putting him in with the scientific section seemed like a good bet. In fact, Aiden and Flack had been hinting that Adam could use some help and remembering that cinched the deal. Mac nodded to himself, liking it. It was rare for the science teams to be exposed to danger; Danny should be safe, yet still have work that sparked his interest. 

That issue settled to his satisfaction, Mac carefully extricated himself from the bed and headed to the nook that housed his bathroom area. He wet a washcloth and quickly wiped himself down. Hawkes had said to leave the bedding be, so maybe it would have been better to leave the body fluids on his skin, but Mac was beginning to itch. Once he was done, he rinsed the washcloth and headed back to where Danny was sleeping. Moving carefully, he was able to clean the ELF without waking him. Danny made soft, snuffling noises, but didn’t truly wake. Mac was even able to determine that Danny had taken no physical damage from the bonding experience. The skin of his ass was red, but there was no sign of bleeding or any tears in the skin.

Mac still wasn’t sleepy, but he had no intention of Danny waking up in the bed alone. He tossed the washcloth into the bathroom sink and grabbed a portable padd. Taking it with him to the bed, he settled on the mattress with his back to the headboard. Danny didn’t wake, but did instinctively wiggle until he was pressed along Mac’s leg and hip, with his face resting against Mac’s thigh. There was a build up of reports to read and Mac managed to do it. He ran his fingers idly through Danny’s hair as he did, finding both the petting and the reading soothing.

As with before, Mac sensed Danny waking before the ELF actually did. Danny snuffled softly and yawned, stretching while his eyes were still closed. Mac smiled fondly and gladly put the padd aside. He was anxious to see how Danny behaved now that the bond was set.

Danny was slow to open his eyes and, when he did, Mac made sure to be leaning in where Danny could see him. At the moment, Mac didn’t even know where Danny’s glasses were and he hoped Danny could see well enough recognize him. He needn’t have worried. As soon as Danny’s blue eyes fixed on Mac’s face, the ELF smiled.

“Mac.” 

The contentment was obvious in Danny’s tone, but Mac couldn’t help but ask anyway. “How do you feel?”

Danny stretched again and yawned. “Tired. Stretchy. A little sore.” His eyes had started to droop, but flew open with that last word. “You didn’t tell me that you were going to put your penis in there.”

Mac chuckled and slid down so that he was next to Danny instead of leaning over him. “And would you have worried about it if I’d told you that was how men come together?”

The ELF’s forehead wrinkled as he carefully considered Mac’s question. “Yeah.”

“And was there reason to worry?” Mac put his hand across Danny’s belly. “It felt good, didn’t it?”

Danny huffed. “You know it did, Mac.” 

“Well, all right, then,” Mac reached down and kissed Danny chastely. “I just didn’t want you to worry when you didn’t need to. I’m sure it was enough to deal with the way it was.”

“It wasn’t bad,” Danny was slow to reply, obviously thinking over his words. “Everything felt good; it was just weird not knowing what was going on.”

Mac kissed him again, knowing how much Danny enjoyed kissing and hoping it would provide him with some comfort. When they pulled apart, Danny looked more settled. “The bond is established now, so you won’t have to go through that again.”

Danny’s eyes opened in dismay and he sat up abruptly. “We don’t get to do that again? Why? It felt so good, Mac!”

It was difficult not to laugh at Danny’s reaction. “No, no, there’s a difference between bonding and sex, Danny,” he held out his hand and was gratified when Danny took it. He settled the ELF next to him again before continuing. “Bonding is a lot more intense and, for the ELF anyway, it can feel like your body is out of your control. In a bonding, you’re having sex because you need to. That only happens the first time or if we happen to be separated for too long.”

Seeing Danny’s face brighten at his last comment, Mac was quick to correct the ELF. “Having a bond strained is not a good thing, Danny. Sometimes it happens, but only out of sheer necessity, like in the case of an emergency that separates an ELF from the person he’s bonded to.”

“Aw, Mac,” Danny pouted. 

Mac kissed Danny lightly. “We can still have sex,” Mac promised him. “And it will feel good too. In fact, you might like it better when it’s more under control.”

Danny looked at Mac from underneath lowered lashes. “Could you show me?”

The shyness and innocence of that request almost took Mac’s breath away. His first instinct was to immediately take Danny into his arms and get started with the requested demonstration, but he had to make sure of something first.

“You said you were sore,” Mac referred to one of Danny’s earlier comments. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Danny shrugged. “It’s not bad. Just a stretchy kind of sore, like when I stayed on the treadmill too long, only in my ass.” He took a shaky breath. “I don’t feel like before, not nearly, but I think it’d feel worse not to do it.”

That sealed the deal as far as Mac was concerned. Sheldon had warned that Danny might need more sexual activity to cement the bond. His willingness had nothing to do with the way his groin tightened with Danny’s unintentionally coy request. Nothing at all.

“Come here,” Mac growled softly and he pulled Danny even closer.

They started with kissing and with Danny being spared the urges of a pending bonding, Mac made sure they took their time. At first they swapped short, almost playful kisses, but that soon wasn’t enough. Mac wrapped one hand around the back of Danny’s neck, holding his head so that Mac could plunder his mouth to his heart’s desire. Danny didn’t mind. In fact, the ELF was soon rubbing against Mac with an increasing urgency. Eventually, Mac showed pity and pulled his mouth away. He didn’t let go of his grip on Danny’s head, though, and brought their foreheads together.

“You okay?” Mac asked when his breathing had slowed enough to speak.

“Yeah,” Danny’s voice was shaky. “But my penis is needin’ something again.”

Mac laughed softly and kissed Danny on the forehead. “We’ll get to that, Danny, trust me. This is called foreplay and it helps your body to get prepared for the full act. We’ve always been rushed before, so you didn’t get as much of this as you should have.”

Danny closed his eyes as his hips thrust towards Mac. “I thought you were just gonna, I don’t know, stick it in again.”

Since there had been several times since meeting Danny that Mac had wanted to do exactly that, it was hard to resist the temptation. Somehow, Mac had the willpower to do it, though. “Hard and fast has its good points too and I’m sure we’ll try that sometime, but for now, we’re going slow.”

“Mac – umph.”

It was easy to cut off Danny’s protest with another kiss. Mac made sure it was an especially deep one. When he broke off, he ran his thumb across Danny’s swollen lips. “What was that you were saying about taking our time?”

Danny blinked a couple of times before answering. “It’s good, Mac. Real good.”

“Smart answer,” Mac smiled. He leaned forward as though to kiss Danny again, but at the last minute, diverted to gently suck behind Danny’s ear. The ELF cried out softly and pressed closer. Mac had apparently found a particularly sensitive spot.

As they lay on the bed, Danny become less willing to just lie still and let Mac do all the work. As Mac’s hands started roaming the ELF’s body, Danny did the same. One or the other would latch onto a piece of skin with their mouth, sucking or kissing it. Slowly, the couple were mapping out each other’s hot spots. Mac was careful to keep their hands above the waist, wanting to prolong the experience. After the third time Mac grabbed his wrist and gently redirected him, Danny began to get frustrated.

“Mac,” Danny complained. “Slow is good and all, but my penis has got a whole different set of ideas.”

“Do I need to get a cold washcloth again?” Mac asked, only half teasing.

“No!” Danny shifted away from him a little, but then just as quickly settled back, although he couldn‘t bare to be away from Mac even by a few inches. “I think I can survive.”

“Let’s take it easy for a minute, give you a chance to catch your breath,” Mac suggested. Truth be told, he needed a moment to regain control as well. He stroked the ELF’s arm with his hand, but left off with the kissing. “I’m really proud of you, Danny.”

Danny’s eyes shone at the compliment. “You are??

“Absolutely,” Mac’s voice was firm. “You’ve had a lot of changes to deal with, but you’re handling it like a real trooper.”

“You make it easy,” Danny had that shy look again and Mac couldn’t help but kiss him again, despite his own resolve to slow it down.

Mac held them to kissing, no chore since they both enjoyed it. After a few minutes, he felt some of the tenseness drain out of Danny’s body. “Better?”

Danny’s eyes were glazed over, but he managed to answer. “Yeah.”

“Good,” Mac smiled. “Now don’t move.”

He didn’t give Danny time to ask any questions. Mac kissed his way down Danny’s chest and didn’t stop until he reached the slit that was an ELF’s equivalent to a bellybutton. Mac had often heard that this spot of an ELF’s body was especially sensitive and he had every intention of finding out. He gave it a tentative lick and Danny’s hips immediately lifted off the mattress.

“Oh!” Danny gasped. “Do that again, Mac, please!”

Mac gladly obliged. He gave the slit another, firmer lick and Danny groaned deeply and opened his legs. Feeling particularly mischievous, Mac blew across the damp skin. The reaction was immediate, Danny yelped and his cock twitched. Fearing that he would push Danny into an orgasm prematurely, Mac moved on. 

Danny’s penis was erect and leaking, but rather than touching it, Mac instead buried his face in the crease of Danny’s leg. The ELF made a breathy noise and spread his legs a little further.

“Easy, Danny,” Mac murmured. He nuzzled Danny’s testicles, but when his warm breath caused Danny to start to tremble, he decided not to go any further. Going slow was one thing; torture was quite another.

Mac kissed the inside of Danny’s leg and then reluctantly left off touching the ELF. He repositioned himself so that he was sitting with his back against the headboard and his legs stretched in front of him. Danny was looking up at him with dazed eyes and Mac patted the top of his thighs. “Come up here, Danny.”

Ever obedient, Danny scrambled up and Mac guided him so that the ELF was straddling his lap, facing him. Danny opened his mouth as if to ask what they were going to do next, but Mac kissed him deeply. Danny hummed in pleasure and kissed back. 

While they swapped kisses, Mac fumbled for the tube of lubricant that he’d used earlier. The kissing was distracting him almost as much as it was Danny, especially how the way the ELF leaned forward caused their erections to brush against one another. Despite that, Mac was able to slather lube on a finger and slide it inside Danny. As he did, Danny moaned, but Mac was pleased to realize that there was little resistance. Danny was open from their earlier encounter. He removed the finger and Danny whimpered.

“You gonna stick it in now, Mac?” Danny asked, breathless. He rested his forehead against Mac’s.

“Nope,” Mac couldn’t help but feel smug when Danny almost immediately complained.

“Why not?

Mac kissed the younger man’s nose. “You are.”

“Scuse me?” Danny asked.

“I told you that you’d like sex when you’re in control of your body,” Mac explained. He shifted his hips until the tip of his penis was positioned at the opening to Danny’s body. “You’re going to set the pace.”

Using hands on Danny’s hips, Mac encouraged the ELF to sink down a little, allowing the tip of his cock to penetrate the ELF. Danny’s eyes went wide. “Oh.”

Since being discovered, Danny had shown he was a fast learner and sex was no exception. He steadied himself with hands on Mac’s shoulders and pushed down a little more. Mac bit his lip as the gripping heat surrounded his cock. 

“Easy, Danny,” Mac tightened his hands, preventing Danny from sliding all the way down. “Don’t want to hurt yourself.”

“S’good, Mac,” Danny wiggled his hips, but allowed Mac to slow his descent. Mac’s hands were aching by the time Danny was fully seated on his lap, but it was worth it. He’d felt every inch of penetration and reveled in each one of them. He bumped his forehead against Danny’s.

“Mac?” Danny gasped.

“Yeah?” Mac was fascinated by how Danny’s pupils had dilated with desire.

“Can I move now?” Danny asked. “I-I really need to move.”

Mac’s grip on Danny’s hips lightened. “Take whatever you need, Danny.”

Danny didn’t need to be told twice. He lifted off Mac’s cock a little and then shifted back down, a tentative thrust that only served to inflame Mac more. The next raise and lowering was more confident, the next even more so.

It was an exercise in patience, letting Danny learn the sexual pace and rhythm that he enjoyed most. Patience and awe, as Mac watched the expressions pass over Danny’s face. The ELF did nothing to mask the pure pleasure he was feeling and when he looked into Mac’s eyes, Mac almost came at the look that Danny gave him. Only by curling his toes into the mattress was he able to hold back his orgasm.

And then Danny found his prostate. Or, it was more accurate to say, he found the way to come down that caused Mac’s cock to hit it dead on. “Mac!”

“Easy there,” Mac cautioned. Once Danny had found the ‘sweet spot,’ he’d started moving up and slamming himself down a little too hard for Mac’s comfort.

“Need more. . .” Danny moaned.

The skin of Danny’s hips was wet with sweat. Mac left off with one and wrapped it around Danny’s cock. It was also slick, as well as hot and hard with pre-com. Mac pumped it in countermeasure to Danny’s thrusts and the added friction gave Danny the stimulation that he needed.

“Mac!” Danny cried out as he slammed himself down and stayed there.

Mac was vaguely aware of warm liquid splashing against his stomach. He didn’t have much attention to spare. His world narrowed down to how Danny’s ass clamped down on his cock. The sensation milked Mac’s own orgasm, but since it was his second release in a relatively short time, Mac didn’t pass out. His hips bucked up as his cock jerked, almost throwing Danny off of Mac’s lap.

Breathing hard, Danny fell forward against Mac‘s chest. He was still on Mac’s lap, with the older man’s cock inside him. Danny was breathing too hard to talk and so was Mac. Instead, he ran a hand up and down Danny’s sweating back, making a soft shushing sound. 

“Such a good boy,” Mac said when he was again able to speak. “So good, Danny.”

Danny had recovered enough to kiss Mac under his chin. “You were right, sex is good without the bonding thing too.”

Mac laughed softly. “I’m glad.”

“You’re always right,” Danny stated as he snuggled close to Mac. “You take good care of me.”

Mac was glad that Danny had faith in him and hoped that he’d never let the ELF down. “Come on, Danny. You’re going to get cold as soon as that sweat dries.”

“Nmmph,” Danny’s protest was muffled; he was already half asleep.

After a kiss to the top of Danny’s head, Mac managed to slide down further on the bed and tugged the sheet from under them so that it covered them. During his maneuvering, most of Mac’s cock slid out of Danny’s body and Mac sighed. He wasn’t a sniffer ELF, but he found he craved the contact almost as much as Danny did.

Successfully completing their bond was only the first hurdle the faced. Mac knew that Danny still needed to take advantage of the rest of his grace period and Mac would need help determining the remaining curriculum. Not only that, but Mac needed convince his superiors that he could still be an effective starship captain when bonded to an ELF, not to mention, finding a meaningful job for Danny to do on the Brooklyn.

Mac knew all of that, but it didn’t matter at the moment. All that mattered was the sleeping ELF in his arms. Having Danny’s body on top of his was a relatively new experience for Mac, but it was a welcome one.

He’d never in a million years imagined bonding to an ELF, but now that he had, Mac knew that he wouldn’t trade the experience - or Danny - for anything. Content with the direction his life had taken, Mac joined Danny in sleep, his arms keeping the ELF close.

~the end~


End file.
